List of Commotions

WE'RE TAKING CAN THE CAN TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL. SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR TRASHING TOBACCO BY MAKING YOUR VERY OWN RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINE.
1. Make a fake smokeless tobacco can and gather supplies to make your machine, like a trash can, toy cars, a ball, books and balloons.
2. On the Great American Spit Out (February 21), build a Rube Goldberg machine (like the Mousetrap game). Your contraption should have one objective: To move the fake smokeless tobacco can to the trash.
3. Take a video of your machine in action. Share to Instagram, Twitter
or Facebook by February 25, 2019. Hashtag with #UpTheAge.
4. The most creative machines and the posts with the most likes will earn Tobacco 21 swag.
Tip: Be creative with the supplies you have nearby. Your machine can be as complicated or as simple as you like as long as the result is trashing tobacco!

#UpTheAge Uprising - Chains for Change (2019 Tobacco Free Day)

LET’S SHOW THE HUGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT SUPPORT TOBACCO 21 AND BREAK THE CHAINS OF ADDICTION.
1. Go to UpTheAge.com. A few weeks before Tobacco Free Day, download and print the Chains for Change arrows.
2. Invite everyone you know to sign an arrow if they support Tobacco 21. Roll the arrows into links and tape them together to form a chain. Link your chain with other chains. Post photos of your paper chain on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Hashtag with #UpTheAge.
3. Bring your paper chain to the WV Capitol on Tobacco Free Day. If you can’t make it to the Capitol, mail your paper arrows to American Lung Associations, or display your chain in your school or community and email your American Lung Association contact to let them know how many signatures your group collected.
4. Earn T21 swag. Groups of teen tobacco advocates across West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland will be gathering signatures. The state to collect the most signatures will earn swag for every participating group in their state!

#UpTheAge Uprising - Post Card Petition (2019 Kick Butts Day)

USE A POST CARD PETITION TO RAISE YOUR VOICE TO RAISE THE AGE TO PURCHASE TOBACCO PRODUCTS, AND CALL ON YOUR LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES TO DO THE SAME.
1. Go to UpTheAge.com. Download and print postcards from the site.
2. Mobilize on March 20, 2019 – Kick Butts Day. Invite everyone you know to personalize their own postcard with a message.
3. Take photos of the postcards. Share to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook by March 25, 2019. Hashtag your posts with #UpTheAge.
4. Mail your postcards to your local representatives. You can use the tools on UpTheAge.com to find your local representatives.
5. Collect your swag. We’ll send Tobacco 21 swag to every RAZE Crew that shares an #UpTheAge Tobacco 21 Postcard Petition photo on social media.

#UpTheAge Uprising - Talk with Chalk

RESTRICTING THE SALE OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS TO THOSE UNDER 21 IS CRITICAL TO FIGHTING THE E-CIGARETTE EPIDEMIC. HELP BRING THE FACTS TO LIGHT.
1. Download the chalk stencils on UpTheAge.com. Gather sidewalk chalk.
2. Choose a visible area to share your messages. Make sure to ask for
permission to add your artwork.
3. Take photos of your chalk talk. Post to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook by May 25, 2019. Hashtag with #UpTheAge.
4. Score some swag. Our favorite photos will earn Tobacco 21 swag.

1 in 5

1 in 5 deaths in West Virginia are related to smoking cigarettes (West Virginia Bureau for Public Health).

We don't like this, do you? Tell the world in a way they will remember.

Here are some ideas:

An X stuck on 1 out of every 5 lockers in your school will help people understand. Put up a sign or poster to reinforce the message. Or, make an announcement over the school PA system. (Remember, you must get permission from the principal.)

People coming in to a basketball game are given a piece of paper as they walk in the gym... all are handed a white one, except for every fifth person. Theirs is red. Right before the National Anthem, the Teen Activist asks the entire crowd to stand up, hold their papers in front off them, and then explains that those marked with a red paper represents the 1 in 5 West Virginians who will die from tobacco each year. Then he/she asks for 60 seconds of silence in memory of them.

After the announcement by the Teen Activist, other Teen Activists can set up tables to distribute Raze Awareness Cards and other information to people as they leave the event.

It is important to remember when promoting this event that the audience is not informed of what is going to occur. Their curiosity will cause them to hold on to and keep their paper.

Also, one (or more) pieces of paper could have a small "x" on it; those marked could win a Raze T-shirt or other promotional item.

Desired Outcome of Activity:

Increase awareness of 1 in 5 statistic

Distribute information such as Raze Awareness Cards

Communicate the brand

Attract other teens to join Raze

Materials Needed:

Decorations/signage for table

Anti-tobacco materials for distribution

Materials, such as sheets of paper, tape, etc

3 of 4

You may not have been aware, but 3 out of 4 guys and girls will not use any type of tobacco products!

Mark every fourth participant with a marker or a sticker.

Introduce yourself and where you are from. Start by having each participant who does not have a mark or sticker to stand up. The rest will stay seated. The people standing represent those who will choose not to use any type of tobacco products. There will be more people standing than sitting. Acknowledge that there are more people standing and what those people represent.

Praise the statistic that more people than not will choose to stay tobacco free. Follow up with some facts about tobacco use what it does to those who do use tobacco products.

Apples to Teachers

Pin red ribbons to apples and give them to teachers.

Arsenic Lollipops (or Other Candy)

Print tobacco facts on Avery labels. Stick a label to each lollipop or another candy. Then, create and hang a poster that says, "Would you eat an arsenic lollipop? The FDA keeps arsenic out of lollipops, but not cigarettes!" Hand out lollipops or another candy with tobacco facts on them. Dums Dums work well. Materials needed:

Lollipops or other candy

Tobacco facts

Avery Labels

Poster

Ashtray Art

Students develop other uses for ashtrays. The new works of art could be displayed at an art show or showcased in school or at a local community center. The designer of the most creative ashtray could receive a prize.

Attend a Coalition Training

Attend a training program hosted by a tobacco or substance abuse coalition. These trainings must be based on something that would be an asset to prevention techniques.

Ballgame Announcements

This is an activity you can do if you have a RAZE crew at your local school. The announcement should come on behalf of the school, because enforcement and compliance is the responsibility of the administration at that school. You should always mention RAZE when possible, and if a RAZE crew member could read this it would be nice. A spin off Commotion could be poster boards with tobacco facts at a particular game with announcements thanking RAZE for the information.

Tobacco control policy announcement examples:

"__________ Middle/Jr. High/High School would like to remind our fans of the _________ County Tobacco Control Policy that prohibits use of any tobacco products on school property including our (football/baseball/etc.) field.
So let's score on "Big Tobacco" and do our part to reduce tobacco use in West Virginia this (football, other sports) season. Everyone can play for a winner on the West Virginia Tobacco Prevention Team."

"_________ Middle/Jr. High/High School and the WV Secondary Schools Athletic Commissions would like to remind you of the WV State School Board Tobacco Control Policy that strictly prohibits the use of any tobacco products on school property during school related events. RAZE, the West Virginia youth tobacco prevention group would like to thank you for adhering to this policy. Together, we have reduced tobacco use among teenagers in West Virginia by over 30%."

Balloon Commotions

Grab some balloons and follow the instructions below!

Activity: Inflate balloons with messages in every fifth balloon. As guests enter an event, each receives a balloon. You can find the facts to stuff in the balloons here.

Announcement: "How many lucky people got a message in your balloon on the way in tonight? Take a look around. The people raising their hands will be one out of five West Virginians killed by tobacco this year. Don't become a statistic."

Activity: Fill up the balloon to 50% capacity to signify that a smoker's lungs do not function as well as non-smoker's lungs- or to signify that smoking can hamper lung growth and the level of maximum lung functions. These balloons can be sitting on the tables or scattered throughout the building.

Announcement: "Many of you have noticed the random assortment of balloons throughout the building tonight. RAZE would like you to see exactly what can happen to two sets of lungs, one set who smokes, and one that doesn't."

Activity: Fill up the balloons with a fake smoke/fog and have them popped at a certain time. This will signify second-hand smoke and how it can produce six times the pollution of a busy highway when in a crowded space - much like the area in which prom is held.

Announcement: "The members of RAZE want you to know that second-hand smoke can produce six times the pollution of a busy highway when in a crowded place. How are you going to clear the air?"

Activity: Inflate only half of the balloons to signify that only half of those diagnosed with mouth cancer are alive after diagnosis.

Announcement: "Only one half of people diagnosed with mouth cancer are still alive after being diagnosed. RAZE wants you to know the truth about tobacco and spit tobacco. Don't become a statistic."

Activity: See which couple can keep the balloon up the longest without using their hands during a particular song.

Announcement: "Let's get everybody on their feet. Did you know that teenagers who smoke are less physically fit than their non-smoking peers, in terms of both performance and endurance? Well let's see how you size up with this game. Each couple grab a RAZE balloon. During the following song, lets see who out performs by keeping the balloon up in the air the longest without using their hands. That's right you can use your elbow, shoulder, lower back... just not your hands.

Balloon Launch

A number of balloons are released and inside each balloon is a note reading, "CONGRATULATIONS! You have found a 'healthy lung' from _______ County, WV."

The note also includes information about the health risks of smoking and second-hand smoke and the link to the RAZE Crew's Facebook where those who find balloons can post and help track where "healthy lungs" have landed.

Banner Run

Prior to the event, RAZE crew members take a large roll of craft paper (sized big enough for a large audience to see) and write key ingredients that are found in tobacco products (see partial list below). At the event, the roll of craft paper with the ingredients listed on it is unveiled to the audience. An announcer identifies each of the key ingredients. A suggested script is written below.

Materials Needed:

48' x 20' roll of craft paper

Markers

5 - 25 teens

List of ingredients found in tobacco products

Best place to perform a Commotion:

Halftime of basketball and football games

School events

Malls

Suggested Script: “West Virginia teens started RAZE with one goal: to tear down the lies of Big Tobacco. We educate other teens about the dangers of using tobacco products. Demonstrations called "Commotions" are used to get the attention of the public. Right now several of our
Crew members are on the basketball court/football field unrolling a list of ingredients that you may not know are found in tobacco products. There are thousands of toxins and poisons that tobacco companies don't want you to know are in their products.

ARSENIC is used in pesticides

LEAD stunts growth and damages the brain

FORMALDEHYDE is used to preserve dead bodies

AMMONIA facilitates the absorption of nicotine, keeping you hooked

BENZOPYRENE is one of the most potent cancer-causing chemicals in the world

ACETONE is the active ingredient in nail polish remover<

BENZENE is found in pesticides and gasoline

TOLUENE is commonly used in paint thinner”

After the banner run, be sure to upload pictures to social media sites to share your message.

Bathroom Signs

A lot of tobacco use begins in the bathroom. Post messages in the bathroom designed to remind teens of the dangers of tobacco use. The messages would be written on an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper. Remember, don't pick on tobacco users! They are the victims.

Demonize Big Tobacco with our key messages:

Ingredients in tobacco products: arsenic, lead, formaldehyde, ammonia, benzene, etc. (see list on Make Your Own Cigarette or Make Your Own Dip)

1 in 5 West Virginians will die from tobacco use

4,200 West Virginians will die every year from tobacco use

Tobacco products are more addictive than heroin

Materials Needed

Markers
Paper
1 or more crew members

NOTE: You must get permission from the property owners. If this is a school, talk to the principal.

Big Butt Clean-Up

Clean up your favorite park or picnic spot and get rid of dirty cigarette butts! Check with the city, town, or county to make sure it's okay to perform the clean-up, then hand out flyers and advertisements about what you intend to do a couple of weeks beforehand. Recruit some friends as volunteers and assign each one a specific area of the location to clean.

Collect cigarette butts in garbage bags and count them along the way.

Present the garbage bags full of cigarette butts to a local public figure such as a mayor or county commissioner and contact the media to be there so they can announce the event to the public. You can announce how many cigarette butts you picked up when you hand them over.

You’ll need garbage bags and gloves. You may also want a RAZE banner to place in the background for media interviews.

Big Tobacco Ad Presentations

As a RAZE crew member, younger kids look up to you. This gives your high school RAZE Crew the chance to teach them how Big Tobacco targets them with advertising.

You’ll need magazine ads for tobacco products, and some props.

Contact a middle school class or a teen youth group. Once you have set up a group and a date, you're ready to start planning your presentation.

Show the groups some of Big Tobacco's magazine ads. Explain how the tobacco industry tries to manipulate us and what the real truth is in each ad.

Divide the class into groups of 3-5 students each. Give each group a different magazine ad. Explain that each group will have a minute, later in the class, to do a skit based on what they do with the ads.

Have each group pick out what they think is the main message Big Tobacco is trying to send.

Next, have them brainstorm what the real message about tobacco and Big Tobacco's tricks should be.

Have each group perform a skit based on their work. It doesn't have to be award-winning, it just needs to explain to the group what messages Big Tobacco is trying to send and what the truth about tobacco really is.

Wrap up the class by asking the students what they learned and what they think about Big Tobacco.

Be sure to ask permission before performing the presentation.

Big Tobacco on Trial

Put your knowledge of Big Tobacco's lies to good use by staging a mock trial.

The Trial:

The defendant, a Big Tobacco executive, is charged with targeting teens, addicting them to his deadly products, and killing 4,200 West Virginians every year.

The prosecuting attorneys try to prove the dangers of cigarette smoking and using spit tobacco. They show how addictive tobacco really is, and how Big Tobacco targets and manipulates youth to use their products.

The defense attorneys argue that smoking is a personal choice and deny all other accusations.

A jury convicts the executive and the judge banishes banish him, his lies, and his products from the community.

This activity is a unique way to gain the attention and win the support of elected officials, the public and the press.

When doing this activity, be sure to get your RAZE stats and Big Tobacco facts correct so that the attorneys' arguments are truthful. What would you like to say to a Big Tobacco executive? How do you think he or she would respond? Use this brainstorming to write the script.

You’ll need three to four weeks to write, rehearse, and perform; props such as chairs, tables, microphones, and speakers; and a computer and printer for writing and printing the skit for the performers.

Body RAZE

Students spell out 'RAZE' with their bodies during an event, assembly, ball game, etc. During this event there must also be an introduction with a tobacco prevention message or call to action while students are spelling out 'RAZE'.

Bonds of Addiction

Ask a volunteer from the group to participate in your demonstration. Have your volunteer put on gloves to protect his/her hands from any potential cuts caused by the thread. Have them place their hands out in front, about stomach level, and ten inches apart with their palms facing each other.
Explain to the group that you are going to demonstrate how addiction and habits are formed. Then, take the string and wrap it around the volunteer's hands to form a circle, and tie it. Ask the volunteer to break the string.

This should not be hard to do. Tell the group that the first time you try something, it is not hard for you to stop the activity.

Take the string and wrap it around the volunteer's hands twice. Explain that it may be a little harder, but you can still stop. Keep wrapping the string around an extra time until the volunteer can no longer break the string.

Explain to the group that habits and addictions occur over time and not at once. Tell them that addiction sneaks up on you one repeated behavior at a time - then you have no control over them.

Materials Needed:

Pair of gloves

Thread or extra lightweight string.

Best Place to Perform Commotion:

Perform this commotion in classrooms, at ballgames or other school events. Don't forget to get permission.

Bubble Contest (2018 Kick Butts Day)

Smokers expose people around them to more than 70 cancer-causing chemicals. Help raise awareness about the dangers of secondhand smoke.
1. Gather your supplies.
Purchase bubbles or make your own. Create handouts or plan announcements about the dangers of secondhand smoke.
2. Pick a time and place to host a bubble blowing event. Consider an outside area to avoid slick floors. Bubbles just
don’t work? Consider switching to gum!
3. Host your event and don’t forget to share photos!
Tag your photos with #BlowBubblesNotSmoke on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Share information about secondhand smoke during your event.
DIY BUBBLE RECIPE:
Mix 6 cups water (distilled is best) with 1/2 cup of blue Dawn dish detergent, 1/2 cup corn starch, 1 tbsp. baking powder and 1 tbsp. glycerine.
Did you know?
NON-SMOKERS EXPOSED TO SECONDHAND SMOKE AT HOME OR AT WORK HAVE A
30% HIGHER RISK OF DEVELOPING LUNG CANCER.

Bulletin Board

Post at your school or community center bulletin board with the tobacco prevention message. If any students' pictures are posted, be sure to follow your county policy for posting a student's picture. And as always, you must get the principal's or community center manager's permission to post anything at on the bulletin board.

Butt-It List

Using posters and markers write down all the things you would do with the time and money saved from not smoking. Pass out the markers and encourage classmates and peers to add their ideas and spread the word that smoking is a waste. Display the posters in a well traveled area.

Cheer to Clear the Air

Student body has a pep rally. Cheerleaders create a RAZE cheer about not smoking and keeping your body healthy. The students chant the cheers and the student body replies.

Cigarette Matching Game

This Commotion is easy, fun and definitely enlightening. Your audience is simply given a match game to complete. On one side of the paper is a list including some of the dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes. On the right side of the paper are familiar items that contain one of the chemicals. Participants have to match the chemical with the item. You can help guide the participants by using your answer sheet. Encourage discussion with the following:

Tell your audience that cigarettes are loaded with more than 4,000 chemicals, many of which cause cancer, heart disease and other life-threatening health problems

Remind the participants that tobacco is the only legal product, that when used as intended, will cause death

Using a cigarette ad "warning label," ask the participants if the warning mentions any of the 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke

Discuss other tobacco-related facts and statistics

Use the following chemicals to create your own match game. Remember to mix up the items on the right-hand side of your page.

Acetone - used in nail polish remover

Ammonia - used in toilet cleaners

Arsenic - used in rat poisons

Butane - used in lighter fluid

Cadmium - used in batteries

Carbon monoxide - car exhaust fumes

DDT - a banned insecticide

Formaldehyde - embalming fluid

Hydrogen cyanide - used in gas chambers

Napthalene - used in mothballs

Nicotine - used in insecticides and very addictive

Propylene glycol - used as antifreeze

Tar - used to make roads

Turpentine - used in paint thinners

Pass these match games out in classrooms, at sporting events or other community events. Don't forget to get permission!

Community Announcements

Get out in your community and make some announcements These announcements can be anything from sharing tobacco facts at church to including information on a scrolling marquee. You can make an announcement about an upcoming RAZE event or tobacco-related facts. Once you decide what message you want to spread, make sure you get proper permission!

Corn Toss/Baggo Game

Corn Toss/Baggo can be placed at any school or community event. Get other teens to play while you educate them on the RAZE movement and the harmful effects of tobacco use. Please make sure to get permission from your Adult Advisor before performing this activity.

Creating a Smokefree Environment

Helping make your entire community become smoke-free is an important way to protect your from the dangers of secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke kills at least 300 West Virginians each year.

First, contact your RTPC to find out what your local health department is doing to make your county smoke-free. If smoking is banned in a lot of areas already (restaurants at a minimum), great! If your county allows smoking in restaurants, it's time to get busy.

Next, find out who's working for clean air. The local chapter of the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, and American Lung Association are good bets. Check to see if a local community coalition is working on the issue.

If no one is taking on the fight, educate yourself about the issue (www.no-smoke.org is a good site for background) and try one or more of the following:

Collect names on a petition and submit it to the local health department

Write letters or meet with local officials to discuss your issue

Get statements of support from influential people and organizations

Hand out flyers to educate people in the community about the hazards of secondhand smoke

Organize a pro-clean air rally

Hold a press conference

Write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper

Make sure you can back up your pro-clean air argument with the facts, and know what the other side's arguments are going to be so you can create a counterpoint. Make sure any event has plenty of people showing their support. Numbers show popular support.

Please always work hand-in-hand with your RTPC. They’ve been working on smoke-free areas already, so they will have ways to help you.

Crime Scene/Dead Man

Have your members lie down on the floor or lean against a wall. Trace the body outline with the masking tape. Then, write tobacco facts on the tape with your markers. Make sure you have permission before performing this commotion.

Cups in the Fence

Use styrofoam to create your own tobacco prevention message in a chain-link fence. Be sure to clean them up when you’re finished.

CVS Store Visit-Lung Force

Visit a CVS/pharmacy locations during the Lung Force promotion (May 3 – May 23,2015) to thank store managers for supporting LUNGFORCE, and to provide CVS/pharmacy colleagues with a thank you certificate.
Step by Step Instructions for Store Visits:
• Ask to speak to the store manager or the person that is in the highest position in the store at that time
• Thank them for their support of LUNG FORCE and the pin pad promotion (request the script from your ALA rep)
• Present them with their CVS Thank You Certificate (certificate to follow)
• Ask them to take a picture with you holding the certificate (they must sign a photo release form first).
Email or text the picture to your American Lung Association contact to be utilized
on social media.
• Let American Lung Association (Patty or Emma) know the name of the person you met with and the date of your store visit

Door Décor

Create your own decorative door display that communicates your thoughts about tobacco, from your personal experiences to the importance of groups like RAZE.

Be sure to include RAZE and RAZEWV.com in BIG letters on your display

Hang your creation on doors around your school or community to let people know that tobacco has no place inside

Make sure to snap some fun pictures and videos. You can show your creations on online and encourage friends to make their own!

Have each member hold one tobacco fact dot during any event where there is a big audience. If done during a sporting event, the announcer can make a statement about the activity. Please make sure to get permission from your Adult Advisor before performing this activity.

Face masks

For the Great American Smokeout, students wore RAZE shirts and surgical masks with a tobacco free message during lunch. Each mask had had a message on it (i.e. "don't smoke").

Begin the presentation by discussing how advertising tries to create a need in consumers:

Advertisers want you to think that the only way to express yourself in a "cool" way is to purchase their brand of whatever product is featured

They want us to want to be like them and buy their products

You can show magazine ads and then show a modified version with students' faces on them.

Then, say the fashion industry is not the only culprit. Big Tobacco REALLY wants our attention. Teens are their future, so they target us hard and heavy.

Start showing tobacco ads

Discuss how much money Big Tobacco spends just on advertising in West Virginia

Provide quotes from Big Tobacco about how they target youth

Discuss how Big Tobacco doesn't care what happens to us, they just want our money – for life!

They don't care that their product eventually takes our lives

Flash Mob

A spontaneous performing activity, this can be done without much rehearsal or planning. You can perform a flash mob anywhere there are people to watch: the mall, lunchroom, sporting event, even a party. All you need is at least two outgoing people and a message.

Select a brief message and break it down into small key phrases to chant. Each person in your flash mob yells out his or her part, while also adding some type of physical action to it.

Some key messages to consider are:

1 in 5 West Virginians will die from tobacco

Big Tobacco kills

Tear down the Lies of Big Tobacco

Big Tobacco lies

After you select your message, think of some body language or motions that will illustrate your point. For example:

Big - As you yell "Big," move your arms in a huge circle.

Tobacco - As you yell "tobacco," pretend you are smoking a cigarette.

Kills - As you yell "kills," you can drop to the ground, and pretend that you died.

Remember, you are representing RAZE. Don't be vulgar or rude. If anyone asks you to stop or leave, simply reply, "Sure. No problem."

Giant Jenga

Crews who have purchased the Giant Jenga game can use it as a form of recruitment in their school.

Grim Reaper

A teen dressed in a Grim Reaper outfit stands outside a place of business that sells tobacco products. The Grim Reaper represents Big Tobacco and talks to individuals coming and going about the manipulation of Big Tobacco (i.e. tobacco is more addictive than heroin) and anti-tobacco messages (1 in 5, or 4,200).

**It is important to avoid picking on smokers. They are the victims!

The Grim Reaper can pass out information regarding the West Virginia Tobacco Quitline, clean indoor air regulations and other issues of importance to the local community.

You’ll need a Grim Reaper costume with a "Big Tobacco" sign the on chest, thank-you cards and permission from the landowner to perform this commotion.

Best Place to Perform Commotion

Tobacco shops

Convenience stores

Grocery stores

NOTE: You must get permission from the property owner. Since the tobacco shops, convenience stores and grocery stores will most likely NOT give you permission to harass their customers, it is best to find one of these stores with land adjacent that is public property or the owner gives you permission to use it.

Guessing Game

More people die from tobacco related diseases than from car accidents, alcohol, drugs, AIDS, suicides and murders combined.

Fill display jars with marbles, candy or other small promotional items proportionate to the following statistics:

16 – Number of people in U.S. who die each day from cocaine, crack heroin and morphine use

117 – Number of people in U.S. who die each day from a car accident

38 – Number of people in U.S. who die each day from AIDS

129 – Number of people in U.S. who die each day from alcohol (includes drunk driving)

1,212 – Number of people who die each day from tobacco related causes (including secondhand smoke)

Then, ask participants to identify what cause of death is represented by the number of items in the jar, and submit their guesses into a ballot box. The correct answer could be displayed or announced over the loudspeaker. The winners could win a gear item to encourage participation.

Handouts and Giveways

Giving away free stuff always works!

This commotion encompasses anything & everything you give away to spread the message. Pamphlets, brochures, candy, RAZE gear—anything you distribute with the RAZE logo or message on it!

Keep spreading the word!

Hanging Stuff

Posters, signs, magnets, etc.

Hanging posters, signs, banners, magnets, etc. with the tobacco prevention message on them is considered a commotion.

When hanging something up at the school, always request permission from the principal.

When hanging things in the community, go through the appropriate channel to make sure everything you hang up is legal and has appropriate permission.

Be sure to follow the code of conduct when choosing materials to hang up.

Health Fair Display or Booth

Set up a RAZE booth or tent and provide the public with information about tobacco use. Get creative with handouts and don't forget to feature your RAZE tablecloth for your space!

Hospital Bracelets

Collect the names of friends and family members of your friends and peers who have passed away due to tobacco related diseases. Then, write the names of the deceased onto hospital bracelets.

Make the bracelets into a chain and display them in your school or community. Bring your chain to the capitol on Tobacco Free Day. The point is to have a strong visual that portrays the devastating effect that tobacco has in your community.

Jar of Tar (Clem's Phlegm)

You'll need one jar of tar. You can purchase one at healthedco.com or borrow one from your RTPC or an adult advisor.

Description:

Show participants jar of tar (you may pass it around or allow participants to pass it around)

Tell audience that the substance in the jar is tar, which is the sticky, gooey substance found in tobacco.

The amount of tar found in the jar represents what one person accumulates in their lungs if they smoke one pack a day for one year. Ask participants to think how much of this nasty stuff they would have in their lungs over the years, considering how addictive tobacco products are

This commotion is even more effective if you combine it with the "Pig's Lungs" demonstration.

Jeopardy Game

Bring one of America's longest running game shows to your area and learn about the dangers of tobacco consumption.

You'll need:

The complete Jeopardy game set

Television or LCD projector

You can obtain the game with preset questions from the American Lung Association Lending Library:

To play, hook the game set to your television or LCD projector by following the instructions in the Quickstart Guide, which accompanies the game set. Next, insert the Classroom Jeopardy CD-ROM in to a computer and launch the Editor Installer icon. Through this process, you can edit the questions and make them related to tobacco prevention.

You can recruit between 1 and 6 teens per remote.

Make sure to practice before running the game.

Living Billboard

Have a message on one side of foam board (ex. Philip Morris loves you to death). After one minute, flip over to another message (ex. Kool kills).

Living Petition

IT'S TIME TO PUT YOUR COMMITMENT TO TOBACCO-FREE LIVING IN WRITING.
1. Create t-shirts with the hashtag #LivingPetition display across the chest. Head to the RAZE resources page to download a t-shirt transfer.
2. Ask friends, family and strangers to sign the shirt to petition for tobacco free living. Even those not wearing a shirt can recruit others to sign and document the petition with photos.
4. Share your photos of your completed shirts and let us know how many signatures you received on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Hashtag #LivingPetition and your Crew name.

Love Letters

Our 6th and 7th grade students were asked to write letters to a relative or parishioner who smoked explaining why he or she should quit.
There were 30 heartfelt letters. Students who did not know a smoker wrote to anyone and those letters were posted at the church.

Make a Video or Commercial

Crew members develop a video commercial from start to finish. They write the script, assign parts and act out the commercial. The commercial is played through a school media device such as a TV. during lunch, half-time in the cafeteria during sporting events or shared with RAZE on social media.

Make Your Own Cigarette

This commotion is like Make Your Own Dip, only with cigarettes.

We all know there's more than tobacco in spit, and there's more than tobacco in cigarettes, too.

Many of these chemicals can also be found around the house. You can expose what Big Tobacco doesn't want everyone to know by making your own cigarette.

Reserve a spot at a community event or schedule a presentation in class or at a school assembly to showcase your display (local festival, county fair, school health day, etc.)

Obviously we don't want you to use any of the "real" ingredients in your demonstration. While you know its dangers, there is always the chance that a small child may reach over and taste one of these poisonous ingredients when you aren't looking.

You can take containers with nothing on them and label them with the ingredients or substitute safer things like water or water with different food colorings. Crayola (that's right, the crayon people) makes little pellets that can be dropped into bath water and are non-toxic. Your audience will get the picture.

Present to your audience, or if you are at a health fair or similar event, set the products on a table with a list of other ingredients that can be found in cigarettes. Many people don't know this junk is in cigarettes.

Arsenic: used in rat poison

Acetic Acid: found in vinegar, hair dye, photo developing fluid

Acetone: main ingredient in paint thinner and fingernail polish remover

Ammonia: a typical household cleaning fluid

Benzene: found in rubber cement

Butane: cigarette lighter fluid

Cadmium: found in batteries and artist's oil paints

Carbon Monoxide: a poisonous gas found in car exhaust, as well as from other sources

DDT/Dieldrin: Insecticides

Formaldehyde: used to embalm dead bodies. This embalming fluid is often used to preserve small animals in biology classes, so check with your science teacher to find this one.

Hexamine: in barbecue lighter fluid

Hydrazine: used in jet and rocket fuels

Hydrogen Cyanide: used as a poison in gas chambers

Lead: a highly poisonous metal that used to be found in some paints

Napthalenes: used in explosives, moth balls, and paint pigments

Nitrobenzene: a gasoline additive

Phenol: used in disinfectants and plastics

Polonium-210: a highly radioactive element

Stearic acid: found in candle wax

Toluene: found in embalmer's glue

Make Your Own Dip

Show people what's in smokeless tobacco—yummy stuff like benzene, arsenic, and lead! Use the recipe, blend it all together, and offer people a dip!

Teens develop and present what is in spit tobacco. A blender and the various ingredients (all household items, mocked up to look like hazardous items) are used in this presentation. Make Your Own Dip can be done at school or community events, such as setting up a table at a high school sporting event, or at any community event. Make Your Own Dip can even be done outside a Wal-Mart in the parking lot.

These presentations should be 3-5 minutes, with approximately 5 minutes of questions afterward. Most likely, this presentation would be done many times throughout one day.

Below is a suggested script. Make changes (additions, deletions) as you see fit. It is important that you make each event your own, so add personality and style and any words that make you feel more comfortable (keep it clean) about the topic and your feelings about Big Tobacco.

Obviously, we don't want you to use any of the "real" ingredients in your demonstration. While you know its dangers, there is always the chance that a small child may reach over and taste one of these poisonous ingredients when you aren't looking. ONLY USE THE ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS SUGGESTED BELOW:

Put the five ingredients into each of their own containers with labels on them. We have suggested harmless ingredients above to replace dangerous ones. DO NOT USE THE REAL INGREDIENTS!

Place the ingredients to the left and right of the blender, which should be in the middle of the table

Place a RAZE banner or sign near the table

Suggested Script:

"Hi, my name is _________________ and I'm part of West Virginia's RAZE movement – a teen-led, teen-empowered anti-tobacco campaign.

Step right up and see what ingredients are in 'dip' and 'chew.' Big Tobacco would have you call it smokeless tobacco so that you would think it's less dangerous than smoking a cigarette. Guess again? This is the story Big Tobacco doesn't want you to hear. Look at these ingredients. First, you start with Tobacco. We've picked a beauty: Red Man.

(Put beef jerky in blender)

But, Big Tobacco doesn't stop there. You've got lead. That's right; lead is in 'dip' and 'chew.' How many of you read every day about the dangers of lead poisoning? It can lead to brain damage and even death if taken in large quantities or over a long period of time.

(Put cake-decorating balls into blender)

But, Big Tobacco doesn't stop there. 'Dip' and 'chew' also have Benzene in them. So, you don't know much about Benzene? Well, it is a highly flammable substance that is used in gasoline and paints. Long-term exposure is linked to leukemia. It can cause vomiting, rapid heart rate and reduce good red blood cells in your body.

(Add 7up to blender)

But, Big Tobacco doesn't stop there. Did you know that Arsenic is also in "dip" and "chew?" Arsenic. The chemical of choice for murderers and mystery writers. It's used in rat poison and can cause vomiting, abnormal heart rate and death.

Big Tobacco doesn't stop there. They add another 15 to 20 ingredients. Some we know about and some we don't because they refuse to tell anyone what other ingredients are included in 'spit' and 'chew.'

But, you wouldn't have a tobacco product if you didn't have this one last ingredient. What do you think it is? Nicotine. It's not bad enough that all those dangerous chemicals are in 'spit' and 'chew.' No, Big Tobacco has to hook you on it so they can slowly rot out your gums, throat, cheeks and mouth.

(Blend ingredients and present it in a "dip" container)

So, why does Big Tobacco include so much crap in 'dip?' Why don't you ask them?

If you don't think it's a problem in West Virginia...think about this: 13.6% of high school students say they've tried 'dip' or 'chew' in the past 30 days.

Meet Gruen

Gruen von Behrens is an oral cancer victim who started dipping snuff at age 14 and was diagnosed with cancer at age 17. He's endured dozens of surgeries and chemotherapy to beat the disease. He survived, but has been disfigured by the surgeries.

Gruen has told his story in a video. Schedule a time for public viewing of the Gruen video, which you can obtain from your RTPC or an adult advisor. This can be at lunch, in the school cafeteria, or when you're hanging around with friends who aren't in RAZE.

Show the video about spit tobacco use. Let them know that smokeless does not mean harmless—it's just another one of Big Tobacco's lies.

Here's another idea: If your community has a public access channel—most cable systems have a channel for announcements, televising local parades, etc.—ask to have the Gruen story broadcast there and publicize the time with posters in the community. You can also hold a public viewing at a local library, civic club meeting, or church.

MemoRaze

MemoRaze is a twist on the card game "Memory."

To play MemoRAZE, you’ll need a copy of the game. If you don’t have one, please contact the American Lung Association Lending Library:

Post the name and photo of your crew’s champion on the RAZE Facebook page or Twittter.

Memorial Wall

4,200 West Virginians die every year from tobacco use, but there are no memorials to remember the victims of Big Tobacco's lies. These victims are family members—fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, friends. Create a memorial wall out of poster board, plywood or some flat surface. Have students or community members write how Big Tobacco has affected their lives or the lives of loved ones on the wall. Display in a public place as a reminder of Big Tobacco's devastation.

Merchant Appreciation Letter

Let stores and businesses who sell tobacco know you appreciate it when they enforce the age limit for buying Big Tobacco's deadly products. Send this letter (copy and paste from below) to business owners who follow the rules and DO NOT sell tobacco to underage customers.

Note: The letter below is a template, so don't forget to fill in your own information in the areas indicated.

Copy everything after this line:

(DATE)

(Merchant Owner's Name)

(Merchant's Address)

Dear (Name),

I would like to thank you for your efforts in protecting West Virginia's youth from obtaining tobacco products at (Name of Business).

Each year, approximately 4,000 West Virginia teens start smoking. And each year, approximately the same number of West Virginians will die of tobacco-related causes.

Because of your diligence in abiding by our state's tobacco laws, we can be hopeful that these statistics will change for our future.

Although selling tobacco to minors is a misdemeanor with a fine ranging $10-300, many businesses fail to enforce the law. I recognize and appreciate your attention to the seriousness of selling such a dangerous product to teens.

Once again, thank you for your efforts and diligence in keeping West Virginia's youth tobacco free.

Sincerely,

(Name)

(School)

(RAZE Crew)

Mr. Butts

Recreate the your own "Mr. Butts" cigarette pack. Each student had one minute to kick the shield as many times as possible. The commotion displays how you use your lungs for physical activity and then the harm done to your lungs if you use tobacco products.

Mr. Gross Mouth/Dip Lip

You can purchase "Mr. Gross Mouth" or "Dip Lip" at the healthedco.com or ask your RTPC or AA to borrow one.

These are display items or can be used as a supplement to a tobacco prevention presentation. If used in a presentation, tell participants that these are the effect of spit tobacco in your mouth. Your gums recede, your teeth rot and you may get cancer anywhere the tobacco juices touches – even down to your stomach!

Newspaper Article

Earn commotion points when local media completes an article or covers events and activities about your Crew.

Not As Wacko As Tobacco Selfie

You couldn't look wackier using tobacco and knowing it's scary effects if you tried, but go ahead and try.
Set-up a photo booth and invite friends to pose with goofy props and demonstrate their silliest expressions. Consider using funny filters, creating a photo frame or design a tobacco free sign.
Post the photos to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. Tag with #NotAsWackoAsTobacco.

Not Stuck on Tobacco Wall (2018 Tobacco Free Day)

Support the quitters in your life by creating a Not Stuck on Tobacco display.
1. Grab a bunch of sticky notes. Pick sticky notes in your school colors, choose orange to represent RAZE or get really creative and plan a mural!
2. Add messages of support to
your sticky notes.This could be a personal note for someone in your life that uses tobacco or a general message of support for quitting.
3. Display your messages and create a Not Stuck on Tobacco display. Invite others to add their own messages of support.
4. Tag your photos and videos with #NicotineFreeWV.

Old Sheet

For this commotion find a sheet or a pillow case that a smoker/smokers have used over the years that is stained by the breath of the user. The sheet even if it is a colored one will show the yellow color from the tobacco use. Explain to the participants that this is another example of what smoking does in addition to staining the fingers or teeth.

Oreo Cookie

Supplies:

Pack of regular Oreo cookies

Pack of chocolate filled Oreo cookies

Hold up the regular Oreo cookie and ask everyone if they look like Oreos. Talk about how the white creamy filling is what makes the cookies so special. As you take the cookie apart, explain that this is the way you like to eat Oreos: to take the cookie apart and eat the middle first. As you open the cookie look out at the audience. Tell the audience the center of the cookie reminds you of a big shiny smile. Hold the cookie up and talk about how we try to keep our teeth looking just like the inside of this white Oreo cookie. Talk about all the products on the market to keep our teeth white and healthy (i.e. expensive whitening treatments and special toothpastes). Explain that as a society we spend millions each year on dental care, because we are so conscious of our teeth's appearance.

Put down the cookie and pick up a chocolate filled Oreo. While holding the cookie explain how certain things you eat can stain your teeth and keep them from looking like bright white to this—and open up the chocolate Oreo. Say one of the most devastating things a person can put in their mouth is tobacco products. Not only does smoking and chew tobacco turn your teeth a dingy yellow or brownish color but it also gives you chronic bad breath.

Compare the center of the chocolate cookie to the white filling in the other cookie. Explain that not only will tobacco products turn your teeth a brownish color but you can also lose your sense of taste. When you smoke, it raises the temperature in you mouth to 107.6 F° (wow). No wonder people who smoke have brownish-colored teeth! That is like putting your teeth in an oven with every cigarette. Can you imagine, if nicotine can turn your teeth brownish-yellow and they are covered with enamel, what can it do to the rest of your body?

Parade

Create a RAZE float for homecoming and festival parades. Take the message to the streets!

Suggested ideas for your float:

Signs

Candy with anti-tobacco messages attached

Raze T-shirts, hats and other gear (wear it)

Bullhorns (shout out the facts)

Pig Lung

For this commotion, you’ll need a set of pig lungs. You can obtain these from the American Lung Association Lending Library:

Below is a script for the Pig Lungs commotion:

Instructor: What is the first organ people think of when we discuss the dangers of smoking?

Answer: Lungs

(Set up Pig's Lung)Instructor: We will now cover some of the anatomical features of the lungs:

The trachea is the long tube leading from the throat to the lungs (point to the trachea). It carries air through the mouth or nose to the bronchi. This is where food can get trapped and causes you not to be able to breathe.

The bronchi branch are the main tubes in the lungs and act as a passage way for air into the lungs.

The air then travels to the smaller vessels called the bronchioles to inflate the millions of tiny balloon like structures called the alveoli.

A network of capillaries covers the alveoli. It is through these tiny blood vessels that the exchange of gases takes place in the body.

Instructor:Let me explain: When we breathe, air is carried through the passage we just described. As it reaches the alveoli, oxygen is absorbed through the thin walls into the capillary blood system and carried throughout the arteries to the tissues and organs. Our organs and tissues must be nourished with oxygen in order to survive.

A waste gas called carbon dioxide is also carried through the veins and returned to the lungs to be exhaled. If our lungs don't function properly, the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide will be altered and the whole body will be affected.

Instructor:Let's look at the lungs and find some of its abnormalities. What about the color? Are they the color of healthy lungs?

Answer: No

Instructor: What color are healthy lungs?

Answer: Pink

Instructor:Right! Healthy lungs are pink. When we smoke, carbon and tar from tobacco settle in the lung tissue causing color change.

Instructor: Point to the malignant tumor – What do you think this might be?

Answer: A tumor

Instructor:Yes a cancerous tumor. This tumor has grown until it blocked the bronchiole that supplies air to the lower lobe of the lung. So what has happened?

Answer: That part won't inflate.

Instructor: Yes, less gasses are exchanged through our lungs, what happens when part of the lungs do not function or are removed?

Answer: Less gasses are exchanged.

Instructor: Yes, less gasses are exchanged, which means the organs and tissues will not receive as much oxygen and the body will start to retain wasted gas, carbon dioxide.
Without oxygen, the organs will begin to shut down. So most of the time, the person will have to use supplemental oxygen. I am sure you have seen those people or know someone who requires the use of supplemental oxygen. They usually are pushing or carrying a tank and have small tubes in their nose. Also, the retained carbon dioxide begins to lower the body's pH causing it to become more acidotic. The increase of CO2 and acidosis cause the organs too basically fry inside the body. In an effort to combat these changes the heart begins to beat harder and faster, work harder to stabilize the bodies pH. Eventually, overworked and under-oxygenated, they too will fail.

Instructor: So you see, the lungs are not the only organs affected by smoking. Smoking affects the entire body. At this time also point out visible tumor and explain that it can cause ill effects to the lungs and is very likely to spread throughout the body.

Instructor: Now let’s look at the bubbles on lungs. They are over inflated alveoli. Smoking causes the lungs to become damaged and they soon develop fibrosis or become stiff and lose their elasticity. Eventually they will become weak and remain over inflated, sort of like the weak spot on the surface of a balloon. Like the balloon, the lungs become vulnerable to holes that will allow air to escape from the lungs into the area between the lung the ribs and the diaphragm. This causes two problems:

The lungs can no longer hold air

The air in the chest cavity causes a pressure against the lungs as they attempt to inflate. This condition causes the person severe distress and they must go to the hospital for treatment.

Instructor: What muscle to you primarily use to breathe?

Answer: The diaphragm. The diaphragm is shaped like a rainbow under the ribs. It flattens to generate a negative pressure in the thoracic cavity, pulling on the lungs and causing them to inflate. It arches again during exhalation. When the lungs become overinflated, the ribs spread to make room for them, causing the diaphragm to flatten, disabling it from being used for breathing.

Instructor: So what do you think happens when the use of the diaphragm is lost?

Answer: We start using other muscles, such as ones in the neck. Sit on the desk and place hands on side of your chair to demonstrate breathing using neck muscles and shoulders, lifting shoulders with each breath.

It is difficult for the person to breathe using this technique and soon the neck muscles will become very large and distended. (Swollen)

Instructor: Does anyone have a family member or a friend with Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease?

If yes answer ask:
What characteristics have you noticed?
Barreled chest – caused from over inflated lungs.
Large neck muscles – from overuse.
Short of breath – from lack of oxygen.
Blue fingers, blue lips, gray skin – from lack of oxygen and increased carbon dioxide.
Clubbed fingers – from lack of oxygen.
Under weight – from burning so many calories to breathe, and difficulty eating due to shortness of breath.
Yellow teeth fingernails, bad breath.
The pig's lungs are virtually indistinguishable from those of a 140 – 160 lb. human.
The black lung simulates a person who has smoked a pack a day for the last 10 years.

Pledge a Helping Hand

Know someone who smokes or uses spit tobacco? Are you ready to help them quit? Odds are there are others in your community ready to help their friends and loved ones quit- so make it official and pledge to help a person you know be tobacco-free... for good.

Build a banner that communicates what people who sign the pledge are promising to do for their friend or loved one. Make sure RAZE is mentioned somewhere on the banner. Make sure you leave enough room for lots of signatures!

Hang the banner for several days at a place where many people will see it. Don't forget to invite teens to sign the banner by making announcements or handing out flyers about the banner. You can create pledge cards and pass them out to be pasted onto the banner as well.

When the banner is full, hold an event and announce the number of pledge signatures you collected. You can invite the people using tobacco to the event to help them understand how much being tobacco-free means to the people who pledged their support.

Take pictures and post them to RAZE social media sites.

Poster Contest

Looking for a way to spread the word about tobacco's harmful effects? Have a poster contest at your school or in your community!

Quotes

Expose Big Tobacco’s lies by posting them for the world to see.

Find some industry quotes – go to www.tobaccofreekids.org, www.tobacco.org, or www.no-smoke.org, and copy some industry quotes about teen marketing to posters or banners. Make sure you include the RAZE logo to let everyone know who made them. Post the banners in an area where lots of people can see them—in parks, outside the gym at a basketball game, or a prominent place in the community.

If you want to add to the Commotion and make it an event or mini-play, you could create a phony game show in which contestants must answer what company is quoted to win.

NOTE: You must get permission from property owners. If you conduct this commotion at a school, talk to the principal.

Sample quotes:

Philip Morris:

"Today’s teenager is tomorrow’s potential regular customer, and the overwhelming majority of smokers first begin to smoke while still in their teens.The smoking patterns of teenagers are particularly important to Philip Morris."

Brown and Williamson:

"Kool's stake in the 16 to 25-year-old population segment is such that the value of this audience should be accurately weighted and reflected in current media programs. All magazines will be reviewed to see how efficiently they reach this group."

Lorillard Tobacco:

"[T]he base of our business is the high school student."

U.S. Tobacco:

"Cherry Skoal is for somebody who likes the taste of candy, if you know what I’m saying."

RAZE a Fuss

The RAZE Crew had a display of a 4-foot witch with a cigarette in her mouth. Beside her was an electric fake flame.
There message was not to become a wrinkled old witch by smoking. Don't burn out your lungs.
This was in the hall for 2 weeks were it could be viewed by the 160 students as they passed by.
This was set up on October 20th and by using the Halloween theme was very effective in getting conversations going.

RAZE Art

Spread the word of RAZE with chalk, spray paint, posters or street art. But get permission! We aren't criminals!

Teens with artistic ability gather to design art on wooden boards, canvases, poster board or even on a street, driveway, or building (after getting prior approval from the building owner). This is an opportunity for teens with creative and artistic ability to express themselves and fight Big Tobacco.

Conduct a meeting or service (this could be a church service or youth meeting) wearing RAZE shirts. Following the service, host a reception utilizing your RAZE tablecloth, decorations and provide RAZE information on the tables.

RAZE Commercial Submission

Help RAZE create its next commercial by creating a script and storyboard for a 15-second video. If your idea is selected, you have the opportunity to come on the set while we're filming the commercial. Ideas should feature two high school teens that find tobacco and Rebel against it instead of using.

RAZE Costumes

Have one of your crew members wear a RAZE costume such as the Ciggy Butts, Snuff Can or Orange Man costume during a school or community events. You can order Ciggy Buttz here: healthedco.com

RAZE Crew in Mourning

The RAZE crew dresses in black and doesn't speak to anyone for the whole day. Here's the hard part—you must act like you don't hear your friends when they're speaking to you. The only people that will know what is going on is the Administration, so you MUST get permission first! At the end of the day, one of the RAZE members will make an announcement telling the student body that the silence they have witnessed throughout the day is permanent when a person is faced with a tobacco related illness.

RAZE INFORMATION CENTER

Collect a variety of literature concerning the consequences of using tobacco products, about various ingredients in tobacco products and second hand smoke; get a free handing book rack/literature rack or use one that is already in the media center or library and place it in a high traveled area.

RAZE Ladder Golf

Take a regular Ladder Golf game and place RAZE Stickers on the ladder. Place crew members close by the activity to give facts about tobacco addiction.

RAZE Recruitment

Set up a booth or tent and recruit new members for your Crew!

RAZE Your Game

Display the "RAZE Your Game" pledge petition sheet included in the commotion kit, in a highly-visible place. Encourage everyone in your school to "RAZE Your Game" by signing the pledge stating they are and will remain tobacco Free.

RAZE-sponsored Dance

Trying to show that they are better ways to spend your time without tobacco? Have your Crew sponsor a dance at your school or in your community to spread the word about tobacco and its harmful effects!

Reasons Why Tobacco is Scary!

RAZE members have a foam white board with the title on it. They then have ghost and skull cutouts that people can write reasons why tobacco is scary. They then attach them on the foam board so others can see it. The RAZE members will be doing this commotion at a football game. They will then hand out candy with anti-tobacco messages on them to those in attendance.

Relay for Life

RAZE Crew participate in at any kind of walk, run, parade. activities. All RAZE Commotion items could be used.

Rewarding Smoke-Free Restaurants

RAZE Crew members are chosen to come to the tobacco coalition meetings to award our local restaurants who have chosen or opened smoke-free. They perform Commotions during dinner and distribute tobacco prevention information.

Ribbons on Cruisers

For Red Ribbon Week,
we put red ribbons on police cruisers at our local police dept.

RRKE- Regional Raze Kickoff Event

Attending a Raze Kickoff Event in your region.

RTPC Commotion

Bonus points for any Commotion performed with your RTPC. If you preform a Commotion with your RTPC, select this commotion for additional points. Still add the Commotion performed, but select this one as well to you get bonus points.

Scavenger Hunt

Ever wonder how many tobacco ads or products you see a week? Now's your chance to get the answer – a tobacco scavenger hunt!

Set a start and end date for the scavenger hunt, and hand out score sheets for players to keep track of what they see as they go to school, hang out, or go to work. Anything with a tobacco brand name or brand symbol on it counts.

Take all the players' score sheets and add them together. Once you've documented the pro-tobacco messages that you see every day, publicize what you've found. You can even create a scavenger hunt with your mobile phone – just take pictures of everything you find.

Use a copier and paper to make enough copies of the checklist below.

Record from your log the total number of smoking messages you found. Record the number of smoking messages you found in each place listed below and the number of promotions you saw for each brand.

3 out of 4 teen smokers who think they will stop smoking in 5 years DON'T. Everyone knows that cigarettes are bad for you, but most smokers get hooked before they realize it. Cigarettes are sneaky. They give you the illusion of control, but are actually highly addictive. Since your brain is still developing, you can be more vulnerable to nicotine. Did you know that when you smoke, nicotine reaches your brain in less than 10 seconds? The younger you start, the more difficult it can be to stop. That is why large tobacco companies target you with their advertising campaigns. Don't fall for their tobacco lies. This is _________ from the __________ RAZE Crew. Think about it.

School Announcements

If your RAZE crew is in a school, make an announcement using the intercom system about an upcoming RAZE event, tobacco-related facts or even perform a commotion. These announcements may also include information about what your RAZE Crew is doing to support a larger event like Red Ribbon Week.

Once you decide what message you want to spread, make sure you get proper permission in your school and schedule a time and date and decide who will be making the announcement.

See Red?

Educate retailers and help put a stop to underage tobacco sales by supporting the SEE RED? initiative. Here’s how to participate:
1. Contact Biddy at Biddy.C.Bostic@wv.gov at the WVDHHR and she’ll send you the SEE RED? stickers and posters you’ll need to complete this Commotion. We’ll also send you some RAZE swag for participating.
2. Prepare for your Crew’s visit to local retailers by reviewing the SEE RED? materials. Decide what retailers your Crew will visit and practice what your Crew will say. Plan to have an Adult Advisor present at all times. Groups of two to three work best.
3. Go talk to local tobacco product retailers in your area. Explain to them that you want to help them stay in compliance with the law and avoid fines. Encourage the retailers to post the SEE RED? stickers and posters to remind their clerks to stay in compliance.
4. Complete the SEE RED? site visit form for each retailer you visit and return a copy to Biddy at Biddy.C.Bostic@wv.gov. Then register your SEE RED? Commotion on the RAZE website.
The SEE RED? initiative qualifies as a community service project! Simply send community service form(s) to Biddy.C.Bostic@wv.gov who will sign and return to you or the student’s counselor.

Showing Tobacco Videos

Show a video at your school or in your community to spread the word about tobacco and its harmful effects.

To get videos, please contact the American Lung Association Lending Library:

Complete a skit or play about tobacco. Be as creative and inventive as you can!

Slideshow

Looking for a way to show off all of your pictures from your Crew's activities throughout the year? Create a slideshow using PowerPoint or the presentation app of your choice to show pictures and other fun RAZE facts and show them off at your school or community centers.

Another option is to take print-outs of pictures and other RAZE materials and post them on a display to show everyone what your Crew is about!

Social Media Post

Post social media updates with pictures of your Crew and use the social media outlet to share upcoming events. Don't forget to tag RAZE on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

Sound of Death

This presentation shows the sheer volume of deaths caused by tobacco as opposed to deaths from drugs, alcohol, homicides, etc. It is particularly impactful at the end of a discussion with youth about the dangers of tobacco.

You'll need:

Ball bearings or other hard objects such as pennies, BBs or popcorn kernels (approximately 1,800). Pre-count these objects as indicated below (statistics of deaths). For ease of re-using without having to recount, empty prescription bottles can be labeled for each cause of death. After the activity, the objects can be returned to the bottles.

STATISTICS ON DEATHS:(NOTE: Deaths represent the number of people who die EACH DAY in the US from these causes)

Start-up (just drop one BB in the can so they connect it with the sound of death)

7 - Number of people in US who die each day from cocaine and crack

9 - Number of people in US who die each day from heroin and morphine

117 - Number of people in US who die each day from car accidents

38 – Number of people in US who die each day from AIDS

129 – Number of people in US who die each day from alcohol (includes drunk driving)

1,212 – Number of people who die each day from tobacco related causes (tobacco or secondhand smoke)

What to do:Create a somber mood for the activity. Have the audience close their eyes and ask them to think of someone they know that smokes or has smoked. Do they know of someone that has lung cancer or emphysema? Perhaps they know a smoker that has a smoker's hacking cough, one of the earliest signs of damage.

Drop one BB into a small can and ask them to think of that as someone who has died. Explain that each sound they hear is another death that day.

Starting with 7 BBs for cocaine and crack, drop them slowly into a can.

Proceed with heroin and the others, ending with tobacco.

Talking PointsKids may relate 1,292 deaths each day in US to other events that cause death that we think are terrible, yet tobacco companies get away with it every day. Some comparisons to use are:

On September 11, 2,830 people died when the planes hit the World Trade Center towers. Every two days, that many people die from tobacco related causes.

When a jumbo jet crashes, 400 people may loose their life. What would we think if 3 jumbo jets crashed every day in America? Yet, we accept tobacco deaths?

Compare the number of tobacco related deaths each day to the number of students in your school (e.g. 600 students). Imagine if twice the number of people in this school died today?

Optional: The BBs can also be placed in envelopes that are sealed and labeled with the cause of death and the number of people. Hand the envelopes out to selected children and have each one come to the front, announce the death they have and have them open the envelope and pour into the appropriate can.

Note: Timing is very important in this demonstration. If you pour the BBs to quickly, the impact will be diminished. If you pour to slowly, the audience may feel that you are over-dramatizing. A pause after the last BB is dropped gives the audience time to reflect on what you are communicating. Using an amplifier or microphone makes the sound effect even greater.

Spit Scuffle Shuffle

Spit Scuffle Shuffle is a twist on the game of shuffle board.

To play Spit Scuffle Shuffle, you’ll need a copy of the game. If you don’t have one, please contact the American Lung Association Lending Library:

Post the name and photo of your the winning team on the RAZE Facebook page or Twittter.

Spooked Out from Smoke

At lunch on October 31st, the RAZE Crew had a battery-operated walking ghost about 1 foot tall. He roamed around the lunch room while holding a sign that said, "Make a Fuss. Don't smoke around us." Students were told to encourage family and friends NOT to smoke around them.
Both class lunch groups were involved in the project so it reached about 164 kids.

Sticky Man

Use students to show the negative effects of tobacco use.

Ask for student volunteers who are willing to write, and hand each some stickers. Explain to the remaining students that you want them to think of all the negative effects of tobacco use. As students call out effects, have the two volunteers write that item down on a sticker

The activity continues until every student has a chance to mention a negative effect of tobacco on a person's body, or until they run out of ideas.

Now ask for a volunteer student to come up front. The students with stickers will go up front and begin to call off the words on their stickers. As they do so, have them hand the sticker to the volunteer to put on the body part affected. When the activity is complete, the students will see that tobacco affects just about the entire body in a negative way.

Instead of a student volunteer to place stickers on their body, ask a student to lay down on a large sheet of paper and trace their outline. Then, affix the stickers to the appropriate area on the paper.

Stop Chew Checkers

In a prominent area, set up the checkerboard enclosed in the Commotion kit along with the orange and black checkers and encourage people to play the game. When beginning the game, the checkers should be covering all the printed facts on the board and you should encourage those playing the game to read the facts on the checker board out loud as they are revealed when the checkers are moved. Take shots of your friends/classmates playing the game and upload them to the RAZE social media channels (#StopChewCheckers).

Strike Against Tobacco

The Strike Against Tobacco tabletop bowling Commotion is a great way for you and your friends to take aim at the many lies teens are told about smoking. Create teams, or even a tournament, and have fun knocking down the pins as you raise awareness about the dangers of smoking. #StrikeAgainstTobacco

Strive for 55

Any activity (letter writing, performing a commotion at another school, etc) performed in an attempt to secure a crew in Raze's efforts to Strive for 55.

T-shirt Transfers

Create your crew's very own RAZE T-shirts with the RAZE T-shirt transfers.

Take it to the Streets

Here's your chance to take the RAZE movement to the streets! Create “Dust Graffiti” to spread the word about RAZE and Kick Butts Day!

Dust Graffiti is an artistic expression of an idea using temporary materials (chalk) to decorate sidewalks, walls or other surfaces.

First, figure out where you want to leave your messages—at your school, around the community or wherever people will see it!

Before you get started, be sure to get the O.K. from your Adult Advisor, who needs to get approval to conduct the Commotion from property owners, if necessary.

Using sidewalk chalk, create temporary messages about Big Tobacco. Your message will last longer if you place it on asphalt rather than on sidewalk.

Talk to people as they pass by your graffiti art about RAZE. Pass out information about RAZE. Take pictures to post on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Taking Down Tobacco 101 Online Training

Have Crew members visit takingdowntobacco.org, create an account, and take the "Taking Down Tobacco 101" online training.
Once half the members in your Crew have completed this training, you can register this as a Commotion!
*Please note that this training should be completed by individual Crew members and NOT as a group!

TATU Commotion

Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU) is a tobacco education program designed to help teens develop strong leadership skills while influencing younger children to live tobacco-free lifestyles. TATU is a youth empowerment program that allows RAZE members the opportunity to utilize their anti-tobacco knowledge and skills to make important changes in the community by being an advocate for tobacco control. TATU empowers participants in a fun, interactive way that they have the power to change the grim statistics.

For more information about TATU, please contact the American Lung Association:

Note: only teens who have been trained in TATU by a trained TATU facilitator can complete these presentations.

Tear Down Tobacco Ads

Kick, punch, or run through a mural made of hundreds of tobacco ads, tearing them to shreds and sending a clear message to Big Tobacco. Get tons of people to collect as many tobacco magazine ads as you can. Invite lots of people.

Gather the ads and build the mural with your Crew members. Craft a message, and have your crew leader let the audience know why it is so important to stop Big Tobacco from targeting teens.

The beauty does not last if you use tobacco products.
Hold up a rose and talk about how beautiful it is but it is also very fragile. The bloom is beautiful to look at. Pass rose to students and ask each one to pull a petal from the rose. When the rose is nothing but the stem, ask the student to bring it back to you. Hold up the stem and point out that all that is left is the stem and thorns. Tell the students its hard to imagine that this ugly stem and thorns once had a beautiful rose on it. Explain that when you use tobacco products they do the same thing to your body. They take away all of your vital healthy parts and leave you with a disease wrecked body from smoke abuse and many times you are unable to regain your health, just as the fact you can not put the petals back on the rose. Tobacco strips you of all that's positive and leaves you with thorns. Use opportunity to reiterate the many adverse effects that are associated with tobacco use.

The Struggle to Breathe

Participants will experience the struggle an emphysema victim has while breathing and understand the correlation between emphysema and smoking cigarettes.

You'll need a small, thin straw for each participant, a stopwatch or a watch with a second hand on it, a balloon and an empty water bottle.

Before beginning, please alert attendees who may have an allergy to latex, and any attendees who may have asthma or difficulty breathing.

Some questions and facts to use when presenting:

Tell me what you know about cigarettes. Get responses.

When you inhale a cigarette are you taking in oxygen? No. You are putting lots of chemicals in your body, but not oxygen.

Does your body need oxygen to live? Yes.

Does oxygen help build your brain? Yes.

The chemicals in a cigarette make your lungs work incorrectly and you cannot breathe properly.

Let's run in place for 1 minute. I will time you.

That wasn't so bad, was it?

This time I want you to do the same thing but I want you to hold your nose and breathe through this little straw while running in place for 1 minute.

Stop. Was this more difficult?

Raise your hand if you can describe how you felt running with your nose plugged and breathing through the little straw. Get responses.

People who smoke a lot get a disease called EMPHYSEMA. It prevents you from taking in a full lung of air and breathe it back out.

Get a volunteer to blow up the balloon. See how it expands?

Now let’s try to blow up the balloon inside this water bottle. Is this easier?

It is difficult. The balloon cannot expand like it needs to. Just like your lungs get when you have emphysema.

Do we want to smoke or be around secondhand smoke that makes it hard for us to breathe? Absolutely not!

Tobacco and Critical thinking

The students will use the website power my learning to access an activity that shows students how to be an active observer of tobacco ads and think critically as to why they are that way. Students dissect the ads by answering questions that ask why the ad is presented in such a way to try and persuade or even deceive you. After they have completed the questions it reveals to them how manipulative and untruthful tobacco adds can be.

Tobacco Ball

Use the Clever Catch Tobacco Beach ball to help players catch the truth about tobacco with the 75 questions about the dangers of tobacco printed on the surface of this ball.
To order a ball visit Health Edco here.

Or you can use a beach ball and sharpie and create your own Tobacco Ball.

Tobacco Does Not Make CENTS!

Help raise awareness about the costs of tobacco with a penny drive.
First, review the stats on the costs of tobacco use in West Virginia at www.tobaccofreekids.org/problem/toll-us/west_virginia
Choose a stat and set a goal to raise pennies to represent that stat. Pick a tobacco prevention charity to receive the money collected or plan your own tobacco prevention project that needs funding. For example, at the 2017 Tobacco Free Day, Crews raised 47,000 pennies to represent the the 47,000 young West Virginians alive today that will die prematurely of smoking if something doesn't change.
Set-up a booth and ask your friends and family members to donate their spare change for CHANGE. Don't forget to share facts about the costs of tobacco on West Virginians.
Once you've reach your goal, put the funds you've raised to work.
Don't forget to post photos of your progress to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Tag with #TobaccoDoesNotMakeCents

Tobacco Free Day

Celebrate Tobacco Free Day at the W. Va. state capitol with your fellow Crew members and RAZE Crews.

Tobacco Free in WV

At each Regional Raze Kick-Off Even in the Fall 2013, teens were asked to outline goals for their Raze crew for the coming school year. During a break-out session, teens had the opportunity to write their goals on a large map of the State of West Virginia. On February 25 at Tobacco Free Day, your Crew's successes - pictures of your commotions, articles in the paper, a list of all your new crew members - to display on another large map of West Virginia. Both maps of the State will be displayed at the Capitol on Tobacco Free Day so everyone can observe both the goals and successes of our state's Raze crews.

Tobacco Free Pledge

Create a Pledge to never compromise your heath and to say NO to tobacco products. Display this Pledge in a public venue and encourage as many people to sign it as possible.

Tobacco Myth Meme

Create a meme that addresses a tobacco fact or myth. Share it to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook and tag with #NoJokeDontSmoke.

Tobacco Puzzle

RAZE Crews create and distribute a word puzzle with tobacco facts and information.

Tombstones

RAZE members can pick an empty stretch of road and time out a pattern of tombstones so that a driver sees a tombstone along the road every time a person either in the U.S. or West Virginia dies from tobacco products. At the end of the stretch, kids can space out a couple of signs explaining what the driver saw.

To make your own tombstone:

Head to your local home center.

Purchase a can of FLAT BLACK spray paint or speckle paint.

Purchase several sheets of Styrofoam insulation. It comes in all sizes and thicknesses. The thicker, the better. You might also get some thinner stuff to add to the front of the main headstones (more later.)

Some sheets are small, but others may be too big to fit into the car. Now you'll use a pair of scissors or any other object to cut through the Styrofoam (make sure it is OK to use such object on school grounds).Even if you buy a gigantic 4 foot by 8 foot chunk of styrofoam (VERY INEXPENSIVE) you can rough cut it into small squares that will fit in your car or trunk!

Trace out a pattern (hint: leave protective coating on for drawing & cutting). Use that same pair of scissors to carefully and safely cut out several gravestone shapes.
Break off or carve out cracks and edges to make them "older" looking.

For some DELUXE tombstones, take that thin Styrofoam and cut out some shapes. You can cut out several squares and stick them to the bigger, thicker headstones to give a brick or black effect. The best way to get them to stick is to apply a little glue and then (and most importantly) take some small nails or even straightened-out paper clips (anything small and rigid) and stick it through the small piece tacking it onto the big piece. You're essentially "nailing" the brick to the headstone.

Use spray paint to add the final touches to your tombstone. BE SURE TO SPRAY IN A WELL VENTILATED AREA! There's no need to be precise, a random uneven spray pattern will look more realistic.

Tootsie Roll

This commotion is best done in conjunction with another presentation. Using a group of people, each person is given two Tootsie Rolls to put between their cheek and gum (similar to spit and chew) and is asked to hold it there throughout the presentation. Each member of the group is also provided with a cup so that they can spit the juice/saliva generated from the Tootsie Rolls. This demonstration shows how gross spit tobacco is.

This demonstration works best with a younger audience (children up to about 12-years-old). An older audience already knows how gross spit tobacco is and probably won't be influenced by the demonstration.

Touched by Tobacco

Create a display that shows how many of West Virginia's youth have been affected by tobacco. Trace hand prints and invites individuals to write about the ways they have been touched by tobacco. Display the hand prints in a public space.

Truth About Tobacco video

Patrick Reynolds, the grandson of tobacco company founder RJ Reynolds, speaks out about the importance of being tobacco free (his father died from smoking). This video helps motivate students to resist the tobacco advertising and peer pressure to start using tobacco.

Twisted Tobacco

This is RAZE take on the classic and interactive game Twister will educate teens about the harmful effects of smokeless tobacco. Crews received Twister-style boards covered with spit tobacco facts in the 2014-15 Commotion Kits.

Unglamour Shots

Find a prominent location to use as your studio (get the necessary permission of course). Use make-up and other materials to give your friends the full tobacco treatment. Have them swish around the yellow food coloring in their mouths for yellow teeth. Add some dark circles under the eyes. Grab some prunes and chew them up until they resemble chewing tobacco – make sure to get that spit drip! Go here for some inspiration: http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/ss/slideshow-ways-smoking-affects-looks. Make sure your photo subjects hold up the UNGLAMOUR SHOTS mugshot sign included in the Commotion Kit (2013-14). Upload your pics to the RAZE social media channels using the hashtag #UNGLAMOURSHOTS

Wearing RAZE Gear

Spread the message about RAZE by wearing your favorite RAZE t-shirt or other RAZE branded gear. You get credit for each day your Crew wears a RAZE-branded clothing item.

What Makes You Cool

Utilizing a blank canvas (i.e. white sheet, poster board, billboard, etc.) teens write what makes them cool (good student, good friend, plays sports, etc). The takeaway is that no one writes that tobacco makes them cool.

Continue passing the item around the circle and introducing it followed by, "A What?"

Once item #1 is halfway around, introduce item #2 and follow the same process

As items arrive at the last member, place back into bag

Draw the last item from the bag and insistently introduce it as "Freddy the frolicking, free-loading flea" (this could be any item such as a colored golf ball, handkerchief)

Make a big deal about the last person tossing "Freddy" into the bag and about "Freddy" jumping in.
Explain that sometimes things aren't always what they seem to be. This is how big tobacco companies advertise products.

Youth Engagement

RAZE members visit the classrooms of students and complete a Commotion to educate the students about RAZE and the effects of tobacco.

#UpTheAge Uprising - Can The Can 2.1 (2019 Great American Spit Out)

WE'RE TAKING CAN THE CAN TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL. SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR TRASHING TOBACCO BY MAKING YOUR VERY OWN RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINE.
1. Make a fake smokeless tobacco can and gather supplies to make your machine, like a trash can, toy cars, a ball, books and balloons.
2. On the Great American Spit Out (February 21), build a Rube Goldberg machine (like the Mousetrap game). Your contraption should have one objective: To move the fake smokeless tobacco can to the trash.
3. Take a video of your machine in action. Share to Instagram, Twitter
or Facebook by February 25, 2019. Hashtag with #UpTheAge.
4. The most creative machines and the posts with the most likes will earn Tobacco 21 swag.
Tip: Be creative with the supplies you have nearby. Your machine can be as complicated or as simple as you like as long as the result is trashing tobacco!

#UpTheAge Uprising - Chains for Change (2019 Tobacco Free Day)

LET’S SHOW THE HUGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT SUPPORT TOBACCO 21 AND BREAK THE CHAINS OF ADDICTION.
1. Go to UpTheAge.com. A few weeks before Tobacco Free Day, download and print the Chains for Change arrows.
2. Invite everyone you know to sign an arrow if they support Tobacco 21. Roll the arrows into links and tape them together to form a chain. Link your chain with other chains. Post photos of your paper chain on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Hashtag with #UpTheAge.
3. Bring your paper chain to the WV Capitol on Tobacco Free Day. If you can’t make it to the Capitol, mail your paper arrows to American Lung Associations, or display your chain in your school or community and email your American Lung Association contact to let them know how many signatures your group collected.
4. Earn T21 swag. Groups of teen tobacco advocates across West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland will be gathering signatures. The state to collect the most signatures will earn swag for every participating group in their state!

#UpTheAge Uprising - Post Card Petition (2019 Kick Butts Day)

USE A POST CARD PETITION TO RAISE YOUR VOICE TO RAISE THE AGE TO PURCHASE TOBACCO PRODUCTS, AND CALL ON YOUR LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES TO DO THE SAME.
1. Go to UpTheAge.com. Download and print postcards from the site.
2. Mobilize on March 20, 2019 – Kick Butts Day. Invite everyone you know to personalize their own postcard with a message.
3. Take photos of the postcards. Share to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook by March 25, 2019. Hashtag your posts with #UpTheAge.
4. Mail your postcards to your local representatives. You can use the tools on UpTheAge.com to find your local representatives.
5. Collect your swag. We’ll send Tobacco 21 swag to every RAZE Crew that shares an #UpTheAge Tobacco 21 Postcard Petition photo on social media.

#UpTheAge Uprising - Talk with Chalk

RESTRICTING THE SALE OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS TO THOSE UNDER 21 IS CRITICAL TO FIGHTING THE E-CIGARETTE EPIDEMIC. HELP BRING THE FACTS TO LIGHT.
1. Download the chalk stencils on UpTheAge.com. Gather sidewalk chalk.
2. Choose a visible area to share your messages. Make sure to ask for
permission to add your artwork.
3. Take photos of your chalk talk. Post to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook by May 25, 2019. Hashtag with #UpTheAge.
4. Score some swag. Our favorite photos will earn Tobacco 21 swag.

1 in 5

1 in 5 deaths in West Virginia are related to smoking cigarettes (West Virginia Bureau for Public Health).

We don't like this, do you? Tell the world in a way they will remember.

Here are some ideas:

An X stuck on 1 out of every 5 lockers in your school will help people understand. Put up a sign or poster to reinforce the message. Or, make an announcement over the school PA system. (Remember, you must get permission from the principal.)

People coming in to a basketball game are given a piece of paper as they walk in the gym... all are handed a white one, except for every fifth person. Theirs is red. Right before the National Anthem, the Teen Activist asks the entire crowd to stand up, hold their papers in front off them, and then explains that those marked with a red paper represents the 1 in 5 West Virginians who will die from tobacco each year. Then he/she asks for 60 seconds of silence in memory of them.

After the announcement by the Teen Activist, other Teen Activists can set up tables to distribute Raze Awareness Cards and other information to people as they leave the event.

It is important to remember when promoting this event that the audience is not informed of what is going to occur. Their curiosity will cause them to hold on to and keep their paper.

Also, one (or more) pieces of paper could have a small "x" on it; those marked could win a Raze T-shirt or other promotional item.

Desired Outcome of Activity:

Increase awareness of 1 in 5 statistic

Distribute information such as Raze Awareness Cards

Communicate the brand

Attract other teens to join Raze

Materials Needed:

Decorations/signage for table

Anti-tobacco materials for distribution

Materials, such as sheets of paper, tape, etc

3 of 4

You may not have been aware, but 3 out of 4 guys and girls will not use any type of tobacco products!

Mark every fourth participant with a marker or a sticker.

Introduce yourself and where you are from. Start by having each participant who does not have a mark or sticker to stand up. The rest will stay seated. The people standing represent those who will choose not to use any type of tobacco products. There will be more people standing than sitting. Acknowledge that there are more people standing and what those people represent.

Praise the statistic that more people than not will choose to stay tobacco free. Follow up with some facts about tobacco use what it does to those who do use tobacco products.

Apples to Teachers

Pin red ribbons to apples and give them to teachers.

Arsenic Lollipops (or Other Candy)

Print tobacco facts on Avery labels. Stick a label to each lollipop or another candy. Then, create and hang a poster that says, "Would you eat an arsenic lollipop? The FDA keeps arsenic out of lollipops, but not cigarettes!" Hand out lollipops or another candy with tobacco facts on them. Dums Dums work well. Materials needed:

Lollipops or other candy

Tobacco facts

Avery Labels

Poster

Ashtray Art

Students develop other uses for ashtrays. The new works of art could be displayed at an art show or showcased in school or at a local community center. The designer of the most creative ashtray could receive a prize.

Attend a Coalition Training

Attend a training program hosted by a tobacco or substance abuse coalition. These trainings must be based on something that would be an asset to prevention techniques.

Ballgame Announcements

This is an activity you can do if you have a RAZE crew at your local school. The announcement should come on behalf of the school, because enforcement and compliance is the responsibility of the administration at that school. You should always mention RAZE when possible, and if a RAZE crew member could read this it would be nice. A spin off Commotion could be poster boards with tobacco facts at a particular game with announcements thanking RAZE for the information.

Tobacco control policy announcement examples:

"__________ Middle/Jr. High/High School would like to remind our fans of the _________ County Tobacco Control Policy that prohibits use of any tobacco products on school property including our (football/baseball/etc.) field.
So let's score on "Big Tobacco" and do our part to reduce tobacco use in West Virginia this (football, other sports) season. Everyone can play for a winner on the West Virginia Tobacco Prevention Team."

"_________ Middle/Jr. High/High School and the WV Secondary Schools Athletic Commissions would like to remind you of the WV State School Board Tobacco Control Policy that strictly prohibits the use of any tobacco products on school property during school related events. RAZE, the West Virginia youth tobacco prevention group would like to thank you for adhering to this policy. Together, we have reduced tobacco use among teenagers in West Virginia by over 30%."

Balloon Commotions

Grab some balloons and follow the instructions below!

Activity: Inflate balloons with messages in every fifth balloon. As guests enter an event, each receives a balloon. You can find the facts to stuff in the balloons here.

Announcement: "How many lucky people got a message in your balloon on the way in tonight? Take a look around. The people raising their hands will be one out of five West Virginians killed by tobacco this year. Don't become a statistic."

Activity: Fill up the balloon to 50% capacity to signify that a smoker's lungs do not function as well as non-smoker's lungs- or to signify that smoking can hamper lung growth and the level of maximum lung functions. These balloons can be sitting on the tables or scattered throughout the building.

Announcement: "Many of you have noticed the random assortment of balloons throughout the building tonight. RAZE would like you to see exactly what can happen to two sets of lungs, one set who smokes, and one that doesn't."

Activity: Fill up the balloons with a fake smoke/fog and have them popped at a certain time. This will signify second-hand smoke and how it can produce six times the pollution of a busy highway when in a crowded space - much like the area in which prom is held.

Announcement: "The members of RAZE want you to know that second-hand smoke can produce six times the pollution of a busy highway when in a crowded place. How are you going to clear the air?"

Activity: Inflate only half of the balloons to signify that only half of those diagnosed with mouth cancer are alive after diagnosis.

Announcement: "Only one half of people diagnosed with mouth cancer are still alive after being diagnosed. RAZE wants you to know the truth about tobacco and spit tobacco. Don't become a statistic."

Activity: See which couple can keep the balloon up the longest without using their hands during a particular song.

Announcement: "Let's get everybody on their feet. Did you know that teenagers who smoke are less physically fit than their non-smoking peers, in terms of both performance and endurance? Well let's see how you size up with this game. Each couple grab a RAZE balloon. During the following song, lets see who out performs by keeping the balloon up in the air the longest without using their hands. That's right you can use your elbow, shoulder, lower back... just not your hands.

Balloon Launch

A number of balloons are released and inside each balloon is a note reading, "CONGRATULATIONS! You have found a 'healthy lung' from _______ County, WV."

The note also includes information about the health risks of smoking and second-hand smoke and the link to the RAZE Crew's Facebook where those who find balloons can post and help track where "healthy lungs" have landed.

Banner Run

Prior to the event, RAZE crew members take a large roll of craft paper (sized big enough for a large audience to see) and write key ingredients that are found in tobacco products (see partial list below). At the event, the roll of craft paper with the ingredients listed on it is unveiled to the audience. An announcer identifies each of the key ingredients. A suggested script is written below.

Materials Needed:

48' x 20' roll of craft paper

Markers

5 - 25 teens

List of ingredients found in tobacco products

Best place to perform a Commotion:

Halftime of basketball and football games

School events

Malls

Suggested Script: “West Virginia teens started RAZE with one goal: to tear down the lies of Big Tobacco. We educate other teens about the dangers of using tobacco products. Demonstrations called "Commotions" are used to get the attention of the public. Right now several of our
Crew members are on the basketball court/football field unrolling a list of ingredients that you may not know are found in tobacco products. There are thousands of toxins and poisons that tobacco companies don't want you to know are in their products.

ARSENIC is used in pesticides

LEAD stunts growth and damages the brain

FORMALDEHYDE is used to preserve dead bodies

AMMONIA facilitates the absorption of nicotine, keeping you hooked

BENZOPYRENE is one of the most potent cancer-causing chemicals in the world

ACETONE is the active ingredient in nail polish remover<

BENZENE is found in pesticides and gasoline

TOLUENE is commonly used in paint thinner”

After the banner run, be sure to upload pictures to social media sites to share your message.

Bathroom Signs

A lot of tobacco use begins in the bathroom. Post messages in the bathroom designed to remind teens of the dangers of tobacco use. The messages would be written on an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper. Remember, don't pick on tobacco users! They are the victims.

Demonize Big Tobacco with our key messages:

Ingredients in tobacco products: arsenic, lead, formaldehyde, ammonia, benzene, etc. (see list on Make Your Own Cigarette or Make Your Own Dip)

1 in 5 West Virginians will die from tobacco use

4,200 West Virginians will die every year from tobacco use

Tobacco products are more addictive than heroin

Materials Needed

Markers
Paper
1 or more crew members

NOTE: You must get permission from the property owners. If this is a school, talk to the principal.

Big Butt Clean-Up

Clean up your favorite park or picnic spot and get rid of dirty cigarette butts! Check with the city, town, or county to make sure it's okay to perform the clean-up, then hand out flyers and advertisements about what you intend to do a couple of weeks beforehand. Recruit some friends as volunteers and assign each one a specific area of the location to clean.

Collect cigarette butts in garbage bags and count them along the way.

Present the garbage bags full of cigarette butts to a local public figure such as a mayor or county commissioner and contact the media to be there so they can announce the event to the public. You can announce how many cigarette butts you picked up when you hand them over.

You’ll need garbage bags and gloves. You may also want a RAZE banner to place in the background for media interviews.

Big Tobacco Ad Presentations

As a RAZE crew member, younger kids look up to you. This gives your high school RAZE Crew the chance to teach them how Big Tobacco targets them with advertising.

You’ll need magazine ads for tobacco products, and some props.

Contact a middle school class or a teen youth group. Once you have set up a group and a date, you're ready to start planning your presentation.

Show the groups some of Big Tobacco's magazine ads. Explain how the tobacco industry tries to manipulate us and what the real truth is in each ad.

Divide the class into groups of 3-5 students each. Give each group a different magazine ad. Explain that each group will have a minute, later in the class, to do a skit based on what they do with the ads.

Have each group pick out what they think is the main message Big Tobacco is trying to send.

Next, have them brainstorm what the real message about tobacco and Big Tobacco's tricks should be.

Have each group perform a skit based on their work. It doesn't have to be award-winning, it just needs to explain to the group what messages Big Tobacco is trying to send and what the truth about tobacco really is.

Wrap up the class by asking the students what they learned and what they think about Big Tobacco.

Be sure to ask permission before performing the presentation.

Big Tobacco on Trial

Put your knowledge of Big Tobacco's lies to good use by staging a mock trial.

The Trial:

The defendant, a Big Tobacco executive, is charged with targeting teens, addicting them to his deadly products, and killing 4,200 West Virginians every year.

The prosecuting attorneys try to prove the dangers of cigarette smoking and using spit tobacco. They show how addictive tobacco really is, and how Big Tobacco targets and manipulates youth to use their products.

The defense attorneys argue that smoking is a personal choice and deny all other accusations.

A jury convicts the executive and the judge banishes banish him, his lies, and his products from the community.

This activity is a unique way to gain the attention and win the support of elected officials, the public and the press.

When doing this activity, be sure to get your RAZE stats and Big Tobacco facts correct so that the attorneys' arguments are truthful. What would you like to say to a Big Tobacco executive? How do you think he or she would respond? Use this brainstorming to write the script.

You’ll need three to four weeks to write, rehearse, and perform; props such as chairs, tables, microphones, and speakers; and a computer and printer for writing and printing the skit for the performers.

Body RAZE

Students spell out 'RAZE' with their bodies during an event, assembly, ball game, etc. During this event there must also be an introduction with a tobacco prevention message or call to action while students are spelling out 'RAZE'.

Bonds of Addiction

Ask a volunteer from the group to participate in your demonstration. Have your volunteer put on gloves to protect his/her hands from any potential cuts caused by the thread. Have them place their hands out in front, about stomach level, and ten inches apart with their palms facing each other.
Explain to the group that you are going to demonstrate how addiction and habits are formed. Then, take the string and wrap it around the volunteer's hands to form a circle, and tie it. Ask the volunteer to break the string.

This should not be hard to do. Tell the group that the first time you try something, it is not hard for you to stop the activity.

Take the string and wrap it around the volunteer's hands twice. Explain that it may be a little harder, but you can still stop. Keep wrapping the string around an extra time until the volunteer can no longer break the string.

Explain to the group that habits and addictions occur over time and not at once. Tell them that addiction sneaks up on you one repeated behavior at a time - then you have no control over them.

Materials Needed:

Pair of gloves

Thread or extra lightweight string.

Best Place to Perform Commotion:

Perform this commotion in classrooms, at ballgames or other school events. Don't forget to get permission.

Bubble Contest (2018 Kick Butts Day)

Smokers expose people around them to more than 70 cancer-causing chemicals. Help raise awareness about the dangers of secondhand smoke.
1. Gather your supplies.
Purchase bubbles or make your own. Create handouts or plan announcements about the dangers of secondhand smoke.
2. Pick a time and place to host a bubble blowing event. Consider an outside area to avoid slick floors. Bubbles just
don’t work? Consider switching to gum!
3. Host your event and don’t forget to share photos!
Tag your photos with #BlowBubblesNotSmoke on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Share information about secondhand smoke during your event.
DIY BUBBLE RECIPE:
Mix 6 cups water (distilled is best) with 1/2 cup of blue Dawn dish detergent, 1/2 cup corn starch, 1 tbsp. baking powder and 1 tbsp. glycerine.
Did you know?
NON-SMOKERS EXPOSED TO SECONDHAND SMOKE AT HOME OR AT WORK HAVE A
30% HIGHER RISK OF DEVELOPING LUNG CANCER.

Bulletin Board

Post at your school or community center bulletin board with the tobacco prevention message. If any students' pictures are posted, be sure to follow your county policy for posting a student's picture. And as always, you must get the principal's or community center manager's permission to post anything at on the bulletin board.

Butt-It List

Using posters and markers write down all the things you would do with the time and money saved from not smoking. Pass out the markers and encourage classmates and peers to add their ideas and spread the word that smoking is a waste. Display the posters in a well traveled area.

Cheer to Clear the Air

Student body has a pep rally. Cheerleaders create a RAZE cheer about not smoking and keeping your body healthy. The students chant the cheers and the student body replies.

Cigarette Matching Game

This Commotion is easy, fun and definitely enlightening. Your audience is simply given a match game to complete. On one side of the paper is a list including some of the dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes. On the right side of the paper are familiar items that contain one of the chemicals. Participants have to match the chemical with the item. You can help guide the participants by using your answer sheet. Encourage discussion with the following:

Tell your audience that cigarettes are loaded with more than 4,000 chemicals, many of which cause cancer, heart disease and other life-threatening health problems

Remind the participants that tobacco is the only legal product, that when used as intended, will cause death

Using a cigarette ad "warning label," ask the participants if the warning mentions any of the 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke

Discuss other tobacco-related facts and statistics

Use the following chemicals to create your own match game. Remember to mix up the items on the right-hand side of your page.

Acetone - used in nail polish remover

Ammonia - used in toilet cleaners

Arsenic - used in rat poisons

Butane - used in lighter fluid

Cadmium - used in batteries

Carbon monoxide - car exhaust fumes

DDT - a banned insecticide

Formaldehyde - embalming fluid

Hydrogen cyanide - used in gas chambers

Napthalene - used in mothballs

Nicotine - used in insecticides and very addictive

Propylene glycol - used as antifreeze

Tar - used to make roads

Turpentine - used in paint thinners

Pass these match games out in classrooms, at sporting events or other community events. Don't forget to get permission!

Community Announcements

Get out in your community and make some announcements These announcements can be anything from sharing tobacco facts at church to including information on a scrolling marquee. You can make an announcement about an upcoming RAZE event or tobacco-related facts. Once you decide what message you want to spread, make sure you get proper permission!

Corn Toss/Baggo Game

Corn Toss/Baggo can be placed at any school or community event. Get other teens to play while you educate them on the RAZE movement and the harmful effects of tobacco use. Please make sure to get permission from your Adult Advisor before performing this activity.

Creating a Smokefree Environment

Helping make your entire community become smoke-free is an important way to protect your from the dangers of secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke kills at least 300 West Virginians each year.

First, contact your RTPC to find out what your local health department is doing to make your county smoke-free. If smoking is banned in a lot of areas already (restaurants at a minimum), great! If your county allows smoking in restaurants, it's time to get busy.

Next, find out who's working for clean air. The local chapter of the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, and American Lung Association are good bets. Check to see if a local community coalition is working on the issue.

If no one is taking on the fight, educate yourself about the issue (www.no-smoke.org is a good site for background) and try one or more of the following:

Collect names on a petition and submit it to the local health department

Write letters or meet with local officials to discuss your issue

Get statements of support from influential people and organizations

Hand out flyers to educate people in the community about the hazards of secondhand smoke

Organize a pro-clean air rally

Hold a press conference

Write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper

Make sure you can back up your pro-clean air argument with the facts, and know what the other side's arguments are going to be so you can create a counterpoint. Make sure any event has plenty of people showing their support. Numbers show popular support.

Please always work hand-in-hand with your RTPC. They’ve been working on smoke-free areas already, so they will have ways to help you.

Crime Scene/Dead Man

Have your members lie down on the floor or lean against a wall. Trace the body outline with the masking tape. Then, write tobacco facts on the tape with your markers. Make sure you have permission before performing this commotion.

Cups in the Fence

Use styrofoam to create your own tobacco prevention message in a chain-link fence. Be sure to clean them up when you’re finished.

CVS Store Visit-Lung Force

Visit a CVS/pharmacy locations during the Lung Force promotion (May 3 – May 23,2015) to thank store managers for supporting LUNGFORCE, and to provide CVS/pharmacy colleagues with a thank you certificate.
Step by Step Instructions for Store Visits:
• Ask to speak to the store manager or the person that is in the highest position in the store at that time
• Thank them for their support of LUNG FORCE and the pin pad promotion (request the script from your ALA rep)
• Present them with their CVS Thank You Certificate (certificate to follow)
• Ask them to take a picture with you holding the certificate (they must sign a photo release form first).
Email or text the picture to your American Lung Association contact to be utilized
on social media.
• Let American Lung Association (Patty or Emma) know the name of the person you met with and the date of your store visit

Door Décor

Create your own decorative door display that communicates your thoughts about tobacco, from your personal experiences to the importance of groups like RAZE.

Be sure to include RAZE and RAZEWV.com in BIG letters on your display

Hang your creation on doors around your school or community to let people know that tobacco has no place inside

Make sure to snap some fun pictures and videos. You can show your creations on online and encourage friends to make their own!

Have each member hold one tobacco fact dot during any event where there is a big audience. If done during a sporting event, the announcer can make a statement about the activity. Please make sure to get permission from your Adult Advisor before performing this activity.

Face masks

For the Great American Smokeout, students wore RAZE shirts and surgical masks with a tobacco free message during lunch. Each mask had had a message on it (i.e. "don't smoke").

Begin the presentation by discussing how advertising tries to create a need in consumers:

Advertisers want you to think that the only way to express yourself in a "cool" way is to purchase their brand of whatever product is featured

They want us to want to be like them and buy their products

You can show magazine ads and then show a modified version with students' faces on them.

Then, say the fashion industry is not the only culprit. Big Tobacco REALLY wants our attention. Teens are their future, so they target us hard and heavy.

Start showing tobacco ads

Discuss how much money Big Tobacco spends just on advertising in West Virginia

Provide quotes from Big Tobacco about how they target youth

Discuss how Big Tobacco doesn't care what happens to us, they just want our money – for life!

They don't care that their product eventually takes our lives

Flash Mob

A spontaneous performing activity, this can be done without much rehearsal or planning. You can perform a flash mob anywhere there are people to watch: the mall, lunchroom, sporting event, even a party. All you need is at least two outgoing people and a message.

Select a brief message and break it down into small key phrases to chant. Each person in your flash mob yells out his or her part, while also adding some type of physical action to it.

Some key messages to consider are:

1 in 5 West Virginians will die from tobacco

Big Tobacco kills

Tear down the Lies of Big Tobacco

Big Tobacco lies

After you select your message, think of some body language or motions that will illustrate your point. For example:

Big - As you yell "Big," move your arms in a huge circle.

Tobacco - As you yell "tobacco," pretend you are smoking a cigarette.

Kills - As you yell "kills," you can drop to the ground, and pretend that you died.

Remember, you are representing RAZE. Don't be vulgar or rude. If anyone asks you to stop or leave, simply reply, "Sure. No problem."

Giant Jenga

Crews who have purchased the Giant Jenga game can use it as a form of recruitment in their school.

Grim Reaper

A teen dressed in a Grim Reaper outfit stands outside a place of business that sells tobacco products. The Grim Reaper represents Big Tobacco and talks to individuals coming and going about the manipulation of Big Tobacco (i.e. tobacco is more addictive than heroin) and anti-tobacco messages (1 in 5, or 4,200).

**It is important to avoid picking on smokers. They are the victims!

The Grim Reaper can pass out information regarding the West Virginia Tobacco Quitline, clean indoor air regulations and other issues of importance to the local community.

You’ll need a Grim Reaper costume with a "Big Tobacco" sign the on chest, thank-you cards and permission from the landowner to perform this commotion.

Best Place to Perform Commotion

Tobacco shops

Convenience stores

Grocery stores

NOTE: You must get permission from the property owner. Since the tobacco shops, convenience stores and grocery stores will most likely NOT give you permission to harass their customers, it is best to find one of these stores with land adjacent that is public property or the owner gives you permission to use it.

Guessing Game

More people die from tobacco related diseases than from car accidents, alcohol, drugs, AIDS, suicides and murders combined.

Fill display jars with marbles, candy or other small promotional items proportionate to the following statistics:

16 – Number of people in U.S. who die each day from cocaine, crack heroin and morphine use

117 – Number of people in U.S. who die each day from a car accident

38 – Number of people in U.S. who die each day from AIDS

129 – Number of people in U.S. who die each day from alcohol (includes drunk driving)

1,212 – Number of people who die each day from tobacco related causes (including secondhand smoke)

Then, ask participants to identify what cause of death is represented by the number of items in the jar, and submit their guesses into a ballot box. The correct answer could be displayed or announced over the loudspeaker. The winners could win a gear item to encourage participation.

Handouts and Giveways

Giving away free stuff always works!

This commotion encompasses anything & everything you give away to spread the message. Pamphlets, brochures, candy, RAZE gear—anything you distribute with the RAZE logo or message on it!

Keep spreading the word!

Hanging Stuff

Posters, signs, magnets, etc.

Hanging posters, signs, banners, magnets, etc. with the tobacco prevention message on them is considered a commotion.

When hanging something up at the school, always request permission from the principal.

When hanging things in the community, go through the appropriate channel to make sure everything you hang up is legal and has appropriate permission.

Be sure to follow the code of conduct when choosing materials to hang up.

Health Fair Display or Booth

Set up a RAZE booth or tent and provide the public with information about tobacco use. Get creative with handouts and don't forget to feature your RAZE tablecloth for your space!

Hospital Bracelets

Collect the names of friends and family members of your friends and peers who have passed away due to tobacco related diseases. Then, write the names of the deceased onto hospital bracelets.

Make the bracelets into a chain and display them in your school or community. Bring your chain to the capitol on Tobacco Free Day. The point is to have a strong visual that portrays the devastating effect that tobacco has in your community.

Jar of Tar (Clem's Phlegm)

You'll need one jar of tar. You can purchase one at healthedco.com or borrow one from your RTPC or an adult advisor.

Description:

Show participants jar of tar (you may pass it around or allow participants to pass it around)

Tell audience that the substance in the jar is tar, which is the sticky, gooey substance found in tobacco.

The amount of tar found in the jar represents what one person accumulates in their lungs if they smoke one pack a day for one year. Ask participants to think how much of this nasty stuff they would have in their lungs over the years, considering how addictive tobacco products are

This commotion is even more effective if you combine it with the "Pig's Lungs" demonstration.

Jeopardy Game

Bring one of America's longest running game shows to your area and learn about the dangers of tobacco consumption.

You'll need:

The complete Jeopardy game set

Television or LCD projector

You can obtain the game with preset questions from the American Lung Association Lending Library:

To play, hook the game set to your television or LCD projector by following the instructions in the Quickstart Guide, which accompanies the game set. Next, insert the Classroom Jeopardy CD-ROM in to a computer and launch the Editor Installer icon. Through this process, you can edit the questions and make them related to tobacco prevention.

You can recruit between 1 and 6 teens per remote.

Make sure to practice before running the game.

Living Billboard

Have a message on one side of foam board (ex. Philip Morris loves you to death). After one minute, flip over to another message (ex. Kool kills).

Living Petition

IT'S TIME TO PUT YOUR COMMITMENT TO TOBACCO-FREE LIVING IN WRITING.
1. Create t-shirts with the hashtag #LivingPetition display across the chest. Head to the RAZE resources page to download a t-shirt transfer.
2. Ask friends, family and strangers to sign the shirt to petition for tobacco free living. Even those not wearing a shirt can recruit others to sign and document the petition with photos.
4. Share your photos of your completed shirts and let us know how many signatures you received on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Hashtag #LivingPetition and your Crew name.

Love Letters

Our 6th and 7th grade students were asked to write letters to a relative or parishioner who smoked explaining why he or she should quit.
There were 30 heartfelt letters. Students who did not know a smoker wrote to anyone and those letters were posted at the church.

Make a Video or Commercial

Crew members develop a video commercial from start to finish. They write the script, assign parts and act out the commercial. The commercial is played through a school media device such as a TV. during lunch, half-time in the cafeteria during sporting events or shared with RAZE on social media.

Make Your Own Cigarette

This commotion is like Make Your Own Dip, only with cigarettes.

We all know there's more than tobacco in spit, and there's more than tobacco in cigarettes, too.

Many of these chemicals can also be found around the house. You can expose what Big Tobacco doesn't want everyone to know by making your own cigarette.

Reserve a spot at a community event or schedule a presentation in class or at a school assembly to showcase your display (local festival, county fair, school health day, etc.)

Obviously we don't want you to use any of the "real" ingredients in your demonstration. While you know its dangers, there is always the chance that a small child may reach over and taste one of these poisonous ingredients when you aren't looking.

You can take containers with nothing on them and label them with the ingredients or substitute safer things like water or water with different food colorings. Crayola (that's right, the crayon people) makes little pellets that can be dropped into bath water and are non-toxic. Your audience will get the picture.

Present to your audience, or if you are at a health fair or similar event, set the products on a table with a list of other ingredients that can be found in cigarettes. Many people don't know this junk is in cigarettes.

Arsenic: used in rat poison

Acetic Acid: found in vinegar, hair dye, photo developing fluid

Acetone: main ingredient in paint thinner and fingernail polish remover

Ammonia: a typical household cleaning fluid

Benzene: found in rubber cement

Butane: cigarette lighter fluid

Cadmium: found in batteries and artist's oil paints

Carbon Monoxide: a poisonous gas found in car exhaust, as well as from other sources

DDT/Dieldrin: Insecticides

Formaldehyde: used to embalm dead bodies. This embalming fluid is often used to preserve small animals in biology classes, so check with your science teacher to find this one.

Hexamine: in barbecue lighter fluid

Hydrazine: used in jet and rocket fuels

Hydrogen Cyanide: used as a poison in gas chambers

Lead: a highly poisonous metal that used to be found in some paints

Napthalenes: used in explosives, moth balls, and paint pigments

Nitrobenzene: a gasoline additive

Phenol: used in disinfectants and plastics

Polonium-210: a highly radioactive element

Stearic acid: found in candle wax

Toluene: found in embalmer's glue

Make Your Own Dip

Show people what's in smokeless tobacco—yummy stuff like benzene, arsenic, and lead! Use the recipe, blend it all together, and offer people a dip!

Teens develop and present what is in spit tobacco. A blender and the various ingredients (all household items, mocked up to look like hazardous items) are used in this presentation. Make Your Own Dip can be done at school or community events, such as setting up a table at a high school sporting event, or at any community event. Make Your Own Dip can even be done outside a Wal-Mart in the parking lot.

These presentations should be 3-5 minutes, with approximately 5 minutes of questions afterward. Most likely, this presentation would be done many times throughout one day.

Below is a suggested script. Make changes (additions, deletions) as you see fit. It is important that you make each event your own, so add personality and style and any words that make you feel more comfortable (keep it clean) about the topic and your feelings about Big Tobacco.

Obviously, we don't want you to use any of the "real" ingredients in your demonstration. While you know its dangers, there is always the chance that a small child may reach over and taste one of these poisonous ingredients when you aren't looking. ONLY USE THE ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS SUGGESTED BELOW:

Put the five ingredients into each of their own containers with labels on them. We have suggested harmless ingredients above to replace dangerous ones. DO NOT USE THE REAL INGREDIENTS!

Place the ingredients to the left and right of the blender, which should be in the middle of the table

Place a RAZE banner or sign near the table

Suggested Script:

"Hi, my name is _________________ and I'm part of West Virginia's RAZE movement – a teen-led, teen-empowered anti-tobacco campaign.

Step right up and see what ingredients are in 'dip' and 'chew.' Big Tobacco would have you call it smokeless tobacco so that you would think it's less dangerous than smoking a cigarette. Guess again? This is the story Big Tobacco doesn't want you to hear. Look at these ingredients. First, you start with Tobacco. We've picked a beauty: Red Man.

(Put beef jerky in blender)

But, Big Tobacco doesn't stop there. You've got lead. That's right; lead is in 'dip' and 'chew.' How many of you read every day about the dangers of lead poisoning? It can lead to brain damage and even death if taken in large quantities or over a long period of time.

(Put cake-decorating balls into blender)

But, Big Tobacco doesn't stop there. 'Dip' and 'chew' also have Benzene in them. So, you don't know much about Benzene? Well, it is a highly flammable substance that is used in gasoline and paints. Long-term exposure is linked to leukemia. It can cause vomiting, rapid heart rate and reduce good red blood cells in your body.

(Add 7up to blender)

But, Big Tobacco doesn't stop there. Did you know that Arsenic is also in "dip" and "chew?" Arsenic. The chemical of choice for murderers and mystery writers. It's used in rat poison and can cause vomiting, abnormal heart rate and death.

Big Tobacco doesn't stop there. They add another 15 to 20 ingredients. Some we know about and some we don't because they refuse to tell anyone what other ingredients are included in 'spit' and 'chew.'

But, you wouldn't have a tobacco product if you didn't have this one last ingredient. What do you think it is? Nicotine. It's not bad enough that all those dangerous chemicals are in 'spit' and 'chew.' No, Big Tobacco has to hook you on it so they can slowly rot out your gums, throat, cheeks and mouth.

(Blend ingredients and present it in a "dip" container)

So, why does Big Tobacco include so much crap in 'dip?' Why don't you ask them?

If you don't think it's a problem in West Virginia...think about this: 13.6% of high school students say they've tried 'dip' or 'chew' in the past 30 days.

Meet Gruen

Gruen von Behrens is an oral cancer victim who started dipping snuff at age 14 and was diagnosed with cancer at age 17. He's endured dozens of surgeries and chemotherapy to beat the disease. He survived, but has been disfigured by the surgeries.

Gruen has told his story in a video. Schedule a time for public viewing of the Gruen video, which you can obtain from your RTPC or an adult advisor. This can be at lunch, in the school cafeteria, or when you're hanging around with friends who aren't in RAZE.

Show the video about spit tobacco use. Let them know that smokeless does not mean harmless—it's just another one of Big Tobacco's lies.

Here's another idea: If your community has a public access channel—most cable systems have a channel for announcements, televising local parades, etc.—ask to have the Gruen story broadcast there and publicize the time with posters in the community. You can also hold a public viewing at a local library, civic club meeting, or church.

MemoRaze

MemoRaze is a twist on the card game "Memory."

To play MemoRAZE, you’ll need a copy of the game. If you don’t have one, please contact the American Lung Association Lending Library:

Post the name and photo of your crew’s champion on the RAZE Facebook page or Twittter.

Memorial Wall

4,200 West Virginians die every year from tobacco use, but there are no memorials to remember the victims of Big Tobacco's lies. These victims are family members—fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, friends. Create a memorial wall out of poster board, plywood or some flat surface. Have students or community members write how Big Tobacco has affected their lives or the lives of loved ones on the wall. Display in a public place as a reminder of Big Tobacco's devastation.

Merchant Appreciation Letter

Let stores and businesses who sell tobacco know you appreciate it when they enforce the age limit for buying Big Tobacco's deadly products. Send this letter (copy and paste from below) to business owners who follow the rules and DO NOT sell tobacco to underage customers.

Note: The letter below is a template, so don't forget to fill in your own information in the areas indicated.

Copy everything after this line:

(DATE)

(Merchant Owner's Name)

(Merchant's Address)

Dear (Name),

I would like to thank you for your efforts in protecting West Virginia's youth from obtaining tobacco products at (Name of Business).

Each year, approximately 4,000 West Virginia teens start smoking. And each year, approximately the same number of West Virginians will die of tobacco-related causes.

Because of your diligence in abiding by our state's tobacco laws, we can be hopeful that these statistics will change for our future.

Although selling tobacco to minors is a misdemeanor with a fine ranging $10-300, many businesses fail to enforce the law. I recognize and appreciate your attention to the seriousness of selling such a dangerous product to teens.

Once again, thank you for your efforts and diligence in keeping West Virginia's youth tobacco free.

Sincerely,

(Name)

(School)

(RAZE Crew)

Mr. Butts

Recreate the your own "Mr. Butts" cigarette pack. Each student had one minute to kick the shield as many times as possible. The commotion displays how you use your lungs for physical activity and then the harm done to your lungs if you use tobacco products.

Mr. Gross Mouth/Dip Lip

You can purchase "Mr. Gross Mouth" or "Dip Lip" at the healthedco.com or ask your RTPC or AA to borrow one.

These are display items or can be used as a supplement to a tobacco prevention presentation. If used in a presentation, tell participants that these are the effect of spit tobacco in your mouth. Your gums recede, your teeth rot and you may get cancer anywhere the tobacco juices touches – even down to your stomach!

Newspaper Article

Earn commotion points when local media completes an article or covers events and activities about your Crew.

Not As Wacko As Tobacco Selfie

You couldn't look wackier using tobacco and knowing it's scary effects if you tried, but go ahead and try.
Set-up a photo booth and invite friends to pose with goofy props and demonstrate their silliest expressions. Consider using funny filters, creating a photo frame or design a tobacco free sign.
Post the photos to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. Tag with #NotAsWackoAsTobacco.

Not Stuck on Tobacco Wall (2018 Tobacco Free Day)

Support the quitters in your life by creating a Not Stuck on Tobacco display.
1. Grab a bunch of sticky notes. Pick sticky notes in your school colors, choose orange to represent RAZE or get really creative and plan a mural!
2. Add messages of support to
your sticky notes.This could be a personal note for someone in your life that uses tobacco or a general message of support for quitting.
3. Display your messages and create a Not Stuck on Tobacco display. Invite others to add their own messages of support.
4. Tag your photos and videos with #NicotineFreeWV.

Old Sheet

For this commotion find a sheet or a pillow case that a smoker/smokers have used over the years that is stained by the breath of the user. The sheet even if it is a colored one will show the yellow color from the tobacco use. Explain to the participants that this is another example of what smoking does in addition to staining the fingers or teeth.

Oreo Cookie

Supplies:

Pack of regular Oreo cookies

Pack of chocolate filled Oreo cookies

Hold up the regular Oreo cookie and ask everyone if they look like Oreos. Talk about how the white creamy filling is what makes the cookies so special. As you take the cookie apart, explain that this is the way you like to eat Oreos: to take the cookie apart and eat the middle first. As you open the cookie look out at the audience. Tell the audience the center of the cookie reminds you of a big shiny smile. Hold the cookie up and talk about how we try to keep our teeth looking just like the inside of this white Oreo cookie. Talk about all the products on the market to keep our teeth white and healthy (i.e. expensive whitening treatments and special toothpastes). Explain that as a society we spend millions each year on dental care, because we are so conscious of our teeth's appearance.

Put down the cookie and pick up a chocolate filled Oreo. While holding the cookie explain how certain things you eat can stain your teeth and keep them from looking like bright white to this—and open up the chocolate Oreo. Say one of the most devastating things a person can put in their mouth is tobacco products. Not only does smoking and chew tobacco turn your teeth a dingy yellow or brownish color but it also gives you chronic bad breath.

Compare the center of the chocolate cookie to the white filling in the other cookie. Explain that not only will tobacco products turn your teeth a brownish color but you can also lose your sense of taste. When you smoke, it raises the temperature in you mouth to 107.6 F° (wow). No wonder people who smoke have brownish-colored teeth! That is like putting your teeth in an oven with every cigarette. Can you imagine, if nicotine can turn your teeth brownish-yellow and they are covered with enamel, what can it do to the rest of your body?

Parade

Create a RAZE float for homecoming and festival parades. Take the message to the streets!

Suggested ideas for your float:

Signs

Candy with anti-tobacco messages attached

Raze T-shirts, hats and other gear (wear it)

Bullhorns (shout out the facts)

Pig Lung

For this commotion, you’ll need a set of pig lungs. You can obtain these from the American Lung Association Lending Library:

Below is a script for the Pig Lungs commotion:

Instructor: What is the first organ people think of when we discuss the dangers of smoking?

Answer: Lungs

(Set up Pig's Lung)Instructor: We will now cover some of the anatomical features of the lungs:

The trachea is the long tube leading from the throat to the lungs (point to the trachea). It carries air through the mouth or nose to the bronchi. This is where food can get trapped and causes you not to be able to breathe.

The bronchi branch are the main tubes in the lungs and act as a passage way for air into the lungs.

The air then travels to the smaller vessels called the bronchioles to inflate the millions of tiny balloon like structures called the alveoli.

A network of capillaries covers the alveoli. It is through these tiny blood vessels that the exchange of gases takes place in the body.

Instructor:Let me explain: When we breathe, air is carried through the passage we just described. As it reaches the alveoli, oxygen is absorbed through the thin walls into the capillary blood system and carried throughout the arteries to the tissues and organs. Our organs and tissues must be nourished with oxygen in order to survive.

A waste gas called carbon dioxide is also carried through the veins and returned to the lungs to be exhaled. If our lungs don't function properly, the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide will be altered and the whole body will be affected.

Instructor:Let's look at the lungs and find some of its abnormalities. What about the color? Are they the color of healthy lungs?

Answer: No

Instructor: What color are healthy lungs?

Answer: Pink

Instructor:Right! Healthy lungs are pink. When we smoke, carbon and tar from tobacco settle in the lung tissue causing color change.

Instructor: Point to the malignant tumor – What do you think this might be?

Answer: A tumor

Instructor:Yes a cancerous tumor. This tumor has grown until it blocked the bronchiole that supplies air to the lower lobe of the lung. So what has happened?

Answer: That part won't inflate.

Instructor: Yes, less gasses are exchanged through our lungs, what happens when part of the lungs do not function or are removed?

Answer: Less gasses are exchanged.

Instructor: Yes, less gasses are exchanged, which means the organs and tissues will not receive as much oxygen and the body will start to retain wasted gas, carbon dioxide.
Without oxygen, the organs will begin to shut down. So most of the time, the person will have to use supplemental oxygen. I am sure you have seen those people or know someone who requires the use of supplemental oxygen. They usually are pushing or carrying a tank and have small tubes in their nose. Also, the retained carbon dioxide begins to lower the body's pH causing it to become more acidotic. The increase of CO2 and acidosis cause the organs too basically fry inside the body. In an effort to combat these changes the heart begins to beat harder and faster, work harder to stabilize the bodies pH. Eventually, overworked and under-oxygenated, they too will fail.

Instructor: So you see, the lungs are not the only organs affected by smoking. Smoking affects the entire body. At this time also point out visible tumor and explain that it can cause ill effects to the lungs and is very likely to spread throughout the body.

Instructor: Now let’s look at the bubbles on lungs. They are over inflated alveoli. Smoking causes the lungs to become damaged and they soon develop fibrosis or become stiff and lose their elasticity. Eventually they will become weak and remain over inflated, sort of like the weak spot on the surface of a balloon. Like the balloon, the lungs become vulnerable to holes that will allow air to escape from the lungs into the area between the lung the ribs and the diaphragm. This causes two problems:

The lungs can no longer hold air

The air in the chest cavity causes a pressure against the lungs as they attempt to inflate. This condition causes the person severe distress and they must go to the hospital for treatment.

Instructor: What muscle to you primarily use to breathe?

Answer: The diaphragm. The diaphragm is shaped like a rainbow under the ribs. It flattens to generate a negative pressure in the thoracic cavity, pulling on the lungs and causing them to inflate. It arches again during exhalation. When the lungs become overinflated, the ribs spread to make room for them, causing the diaphragm to flatten, disabling it from being used for breathing.

Instructor: So what do you think happens when the use of the diaphragm is lost?

Answer: We start using other muscles, such as ones in the neck. Sit on the desk and place hands on side of your chair to demonstrate breathing using neck muscles and shoulders, lifting shoulders with each breath.

It is difficult for the person to breathe using this technique and soon the neck muscles will become very large and distended. (Swollen)

Instructor: Does anyone have a family member or a friend with Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease?

If yes answer ask:
What characteristics have you noticed?
Barreled chest – caused from over inflated lungs.
Large neck muscles – from overuse.
Short of breath – from lack of oxygen.
Blue fingers, blue lips, gray skin – from lack of oxygen and increased carbon dioxide.
Clubbed fingers – from lack of oxygen.
Under weight – from burning so many calories to breathe, and difficulty eating due to shortness of breath.
Yellow teeth fingernails, bad breath.
The pig's lungs are virtually indistinguishable from those of a 140 – 160 lb. human.
The black lung simulates a person who has smoked a pack a day for the last 10 years.

Pledge a Helping Hand

Know someone who smokes or uses spit tobacco? Are you ready to help them quit? Odds are there are others in your community ready to help their friends and loved ones quit- so make it official and pledge to help a person you know be tobacco-free... for good.

Build a banner that communicates what people who sign the pledge are promising to do for their friend or loved one. Make sure RAZE is mentioned somewhere on the banner. Make sure you leave enough room for lots of signatures!

Hang the banner for several days at a place where many people will see it. Don't forget to invite teens to sign the banner by making announcements or handing out flyers about the banner. You can create pledge cards and pass them out to be pasted onto the banner as well.

When the banner is full, hold an event and announce the number of pledge signatures you collected. You can invite the people using tobacco to the event to help them understand how much being tobacco-free means to the people who pledged their support.

Take pictures and post them to RAZE social media sites.

Poster Contest

Looking for a way to spread the word about tobacco's harmful effects? Have a poster contest at your school or in your community!

Quotes

Expose Big Tobacco’s lies by posting them for the world to see.

Find some industry quotes – go to www.tobaccofreekids.org, www.tobacco.org, or www.no-smoke.org, and copy some industry quotes about teen marketing to posters or banners. Make sure you include the RAZE logo to let everyone know who made them. Post the banners in an area where lots of people can see them—in parks, outside the gym at a basketball game, or a prominent place in the community.

If you want to add to the Commotion and make it an event or mini-play, you could create a phony game show in which contestants must answer what company is quoted to win.

NOTE: You must get permission from property owners. If you conduct this commotion at a school, talk to the principal.

Sample quotes:

Philip Morris:

"Today’s teenager is tomorrow’s potential regular customer, and the overwhelming majority of smokers first begin to smoke while still in their teens.The smoking patterns of teenagers are particularly important to Philip Morris."

Brown and Williamson:

"Kool's stake in the 16 to 25-year-old population segment is such that the value of this audience should be accurately weighted and reflected in current media programs. All magazines will be reviewed to see how efficiently they reach this group."

Lorillard Tobacco:

"[T]he base of our business is the high school student."

U.S. Tobacco:

"Cherry Skoal is for somebody who likes the taste of candy, if you know what I’m saying."

RAZE a Fuss

The RAZE Crew had a display of a 4-foot witch with a cigarette in her mouth. Beside her was an electric fake flame.
There message was not to become a wrinkled old witch by smoking. Don't burn out your lungs.
This was in the hall for 2 weeks were it could be viewed by the 160 students as they passed by.
This was set up on October 20th and by using the Halloween theme was very effective in getting conversations going.

RAZE Art

Spread the word of RAZE with chalk, spray paint, posters or street art. But get permission! We aren't criminals!

Teens with artistic ability gather to design art on wooden boards, canvases, poster board or even on a street, driveway, or building (after getting prior approval from the building owner). This is an opportunity for teens with creative and artistic ability to express themselves and fight Big Tobacco.

Conduct a meeting or service (this could be a church service or youth meeting) wearing RAZE shirts. Following the service, host a reception utilizing your RAZE tablecloth, decorations and provide RAZE information on the tables.

RAZE Commercial Submission

Help RAZE create its next commercial by creating a script and storyboard for a 15-second video. If your idea is selected, you have the opportunity to come on the set while we're filming the commercial. Ideas should feature two high school teens that find tobacco and Rebel against it instead of using.

RAZE Costumes

Have one of your crew members wear a RAZE costume such as the Ciggy Butts, Snuff Can or Orange Man costume during a school or community events. You can order Ciggy Buttz here: healthedco.com

RAZE Crew in Mourning

The RAZE crew dresses in black and doesn't speak to anyone for the whole day. Here's the hard part—you must act like you don't hear your friends when they're speaking to you. The only people that will know what is going on is the Administration, so you MUST get permission first! At the end of the day, one of the RAZE members will make an announcement telling the student body that the silence they have witnessed throughout the day is permanent when a person is faced with a tobacco related illness.

RAZE INFORMATION CENTER

Collect a variety of literature concerning the consequences of using tobacco products, about various ingredients in tobacco products and second hand smoke; get a free handing book rack/literature rack or use one that is already in the media center or library and place it in a high traveled area.

RAZE Ladder Golf

Take a regular Ladder Golf game and place RAZE Stickers on the ladder. Place crew members close by the activity to give facts about tobacco addiction.

RAZE Recruitment

Set up a booth or tent and recruit new members for your Crew!

RAZE Your Game

Display the "RAZE Your Game" pledge petition sheet included in the commotion kit, in a highly-visible place. Encourage everyone in your school to "RAZE Your Game" by signing the pledge stating they are and will remain tobacco Free.

RAZE-sponsored Dance

Trying to show that they are better ways to spend your time without tobacco? Have your Crew sponsor a dance at your school or in your community to spread the word about tobacco and its harmful effects!

Reasons Why Tobacco is Scary!

RAZE members have a foam white board with the title on it. They then have ghost and skull cutouts that people can write reasons why tobacco is scary. They then attach them on the foam board so others can see it. The RAZE members will be doing this commotion at a football game. They will then hand out candy with anti-tobacco messages on them to those in attendance.

Relay for Life

RAZE Crew participate in at any kind of walk, run, parade. activities. All RAZE Commotion items could be used.

Rewarding Smoke-Free Restaurants

RAZE Crew members are chosen to come to the tobacco coalition meetings to award our local restaurants who have chosen or opened smoke-free. They perform Commotions during dinner and distribute tobacco prevention information.

Ribbons on Cruisers

For Red Ribbon Week,
we put red ribbons on police cruisers at our local police dept.

RRKE- Regional Raze Kickoff Event

Attending a Raze Kickoff Event in your region.

RTPC Commotion

Bonus points for any Commotion performed with your RTPC. If you preform a Commotion with your RTPC, select this commotion for additional points. Still add the Commotion performed, but select this one as well to you get bonus points.

Scavenger Hunt

Ever wonder how many tobacco ads or products you see a week? Now's your chance to get the answer – a tobacco scavenger hunt!

Set a start and end date for the scavenger hunt, and hand out score sheets for players to keep track of what they see as they go to school, hang out, or go to work. Anything with a tobacco brand name or brand symbol on it counts.

Take all the players' score sheets and add them together. Once you've documented the pro-tobacco messages that you see every day, publicize what you've found. You can even create a scavenger hunt with your mobile phone – just take pictures of everything you find.

Use a copier and paper to make enough copies of the checklist below.

Record from your log the total number of smoking messages you found. Record the number of smoking messages you found in each place listed below and the number of promotions you saw for each brand.

3 out of 4 teen smokers who think they will stop smoking in 5 years DON'T. Everyone knows that cigarettes are bad for you, but most smokers get hooked before they realize it. Cigarettes are sneaky. They give you the illusion of control, but are actually highly addictive. Since your brain is still developing, you can be more vulnerable to nicotine. Did you know that when you smoke, nicotine reaches your brain in less than 10 seconds? The younger you start, the more difficult it can be to stop. That is why large tobacco companies target you with their advertising campaigns. Don't fall for their tobacco lies. This is _________ from the __________ RAZE Crew. Think about it.

School Announcements

If your RAZE crew is in a school, make an announcement using the intercom system about an upcoming RAZE event, tobacco-related facts or even perform a commotion. These announcements may also include information about what your RAZE Crew is doing to support a larger event like Red Ribbon Week.

Once you decide what message you want to spread, make sure you get proper permission in your school and schedule a time and date and decide who will be making the announcement.

See Red?

Educate retailers and help put a stop to underage tobacco sales by supporting the SEE RED? initiative. Here’s how to participate:
1. Contact Biddy at Biddy.C.Bostic@wv.gov at the WVDHHR and she’ll send you the SEE RED? stickers and posters you’ll need to complete this Commotion. We’ll also send you some RAZE swag for participating.
2. Prepare for your Crew’s visit to local retailers by reviewing the SEE RED? materials. Decide what retailers your Crew will visit and practice what your Crew will say. Plan to have an Adult Advisor present at all times. Groups of two to three work best.
3. Go talk to local tobacco product retailers in your area. Explain to them that you want to help them stay in compliance with the law and avoid fines. Encourage the retailers to post the SEE RED? stickers and posters to remind their clerks to stay in compliance.
4. Complete the SEE RED? site visit form for each retailer you visit and return a copy to Biddy at Biddy.C.Bostic@wv.gov. Then register your SEE RED? Commotion on the RAZE website.
The SEE RED? initiative qualifies as a community service project! Simply send community service form(s) to Biddy.C.Bostic@wv.gov who will sign and return to you or the student’s counselor.

Showing Tobacco Videos

Show a video at your school or in your community to spread the word about tobacco and its harmful effects.

To get videos, please contact the American Lung Association Lending Library:

Complete a skit or play about tobacco. Be as creative and inventive as you can!

Slideshow

Looking for a way to show off all of your pictures from your Crew's activities throughout the year? Create a slideshow using PowerPoint or the presentation app of your choice to show pictures and other fun RAZE facts and show them off at your school or community centers.

Another option is to take print-outs of pictures and other RAZE materials and post them on a display to show everyone what your Crew is about!

Social Media Post

Post social media updates with pictures of your Crew and use the social media outlet to share upcoming events. Don't forget to tag RAZE on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

Sound of Death

This presentation shows the sheer volume of deaths caused by tobacco as opposed to deaths from drugs, alcohol, homicides, etc. It is particularly impactful at the end of a discussion with youth about the dangers of tobacco.

You'll need:

Ball bearings or other hard objects such as pennies, BBs or popcorn kernels (approximately 1,800). Pre-count these objects as indicated below (statistics of deaths). For ease of re-using without having to recount, empty prescription bottles can be labeled for each cause of death. After the activity, the objects can be returned to the bottles.

STATISTICS ON DEATHS:(NOTE: Deaths represent the number of people who die EACH DAY in the US from these causes)

Start-up (just drop one BB in the can so they connect it with the sound of death)

7 - Number of people in US who die each day from cocaine and crack

9 - Number of people in US who die each day from heroin and morphine

117 - Number of people in US who die each day from car accidents

38 – Number of people in US who die each day from AIDS

129 – Number of people in US who die each day from alcohol (includes drunk driving)

1,212 – Number of people who die each day from tobacco related causes (tobacco or secondhand smoke)

What to do:Create a somber mood for the activity. Have the audience close their eyes and ask them to think of someone they know that smokes or has smoked. Do they know of someone that has lung cancer or emphysema? Perhaps they know a smoker that has a smoker's hacking cough, one of the earliest signs of damage.

Drop one BB into a small can and ask them to think of that as someone who has died. Explain that each sound they hear is another death that day.

Starting with 7 BBs for cocaine and crack, drop them slowly into a can.

Proceed with heroin and the others, ending with tobacco.

Talking PointsKids may relate 1,292 deaths each day in US to other events that cause death that we think are terrible, yet tobacco companies get away with it every day. Some comparisons to use are:

On September 11, 2,830 people died when the planes hit the World Trade Center towers. Every two days, that many people die from tobacco related causes.

When a jumbo jet crashes, 400 people may loose their life. What would we think if 3 jumbo jets crashed every day in America? Yet, we accept tobacco deaths?

Compare the number of tobacco related deaths each day to the number of students in your school (e.g. 600 students). Imagine if twice the number of people in this school died today?

Optional: The BBs can also be placed in envelopes that are sealed and labeled with the cause of death and the number of people. Hand the envelopes out to selected children and have each one come to the front, announce the death they have and have them open the envelope and pour into the appropriate can.

Note: Timing is very important in this demonstration. If you pour the BBs to quickly, the impact will be diminished. If you pour to slowly, the audience may feel that you are over-dramatizing. A pause after the last BB is dropped gives the audience time to reflect on what you are communicating. Using an amplifier or microphone makes the sound effect even greater.

Spit Scuffle Shuffle

Spit Scuffle Shuffle is a twist on the game of shuffle board.

To play Spit Scuffle Shuffle, you’ll need a copy of the game. If you don’t have one, please contact the American Lung Association Lending Library:

Post the name and photo of your the winning team on the RAZE Facebook page or Twittter.

Spooked Out from Smoke

At lunch on October 31st, the RAZE Crew had a battery-operated walking ghost about 1 foot tall. He roamed around the lunch room while holding a sign that said, "Make a Fuss. Don't smoke around us." Students were told to encourage family and friends NOT to smoke around them.
Both class lunch groups were involved in the project so it reached about 164 kids.

Sticky Man

Use students to show the negative effects of tobacco use.

Ask for student volunteers who are willing to write, and hand each some stickers. Explain to the remaining students that you want them to think of all the negative effects of tobacco use. As students call out effects, have the two volunteers write that item down on a sticker

The activity continues until every student has a chance to mention a negative effect of tobacco on a person's body, or until they run out of ideas.

Now ask for a volunteer student to come up front. The students with stickers will go up front and begin to call off the words on their stickers. As they do so, have them hand the sticker to the volunteer to put on the body part affected. When the activity is complete, the students will see that tobacco affects just about the entire body in a negative way.

Instead of a student volunteer to place stickers on their body, ask a student to lay down on a large sheet of paper and trace their outline. Then, affix the stickers to the appropriate area on the paper.

Stop Chew Checkers

In a prominent area, set up the checkerboard enclosed in the Commotion kit along with the orange and black checkers and encourage people to play the game. When beginning the game, the checkers should be covering all the printed facts on the board and you should encourage those playing the game to read the facts on the checker board out loud as they are revealed when the checkers are moved. Take shots of your friends/classmates playing the game and upload them to the RAZE social media channels (#StopChewCheckers).

Strike Against Tobacco

The Strike Against Tobacco tabletop bowling Commotion is a great way for you and your friends to take aim at the many lies teens are told about smoking. Create teams, or even a tournament, and have fun knocking down the pins as you raise awareness about the dangers of smoking. #StrikeAgainstTobacco

Strive for 55

Any activity (letter writing, performing a commotion at another school, etc) performed in an attempt to secure a crew in Raze's efforts to Strive for 55.

T-shirt Transfers

Create your crew's very own RAZE T-shirts with the RAZE T-shirt transfers.

Take it to the Streets

Here's your chance to take the RAZE movement to the streets! Create “Dust Graffiti” to spread the word about RAZE and Kick Butts Day!

Dust Graffiti is an artistic expression of an idea using temporary materials (chalk) to decorate sidewalks, walls or other surfaces.

First, figure out where you want to leave your messages—at your school, around the community or wherever people will see it!

Before you get started, be sure to get the O.K. from your Adult Advisor, who needs to get approval to conduct the Commotion from property owners, if necessary.

Using sidewalk chalk, create temporary messages about Big Tobacco. Your message will last longer if you place it on asphalt rather than on sidewalk.

Talk to people as they pass by your graffiti art about RAZE. Pass out information about RAZE. Take pictures to post on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Taking Down Tobacco 101 Online Training

Have Crew members visit takingdowntobacco.org, create an account, and take the "Taking Down Tobacco 101" online training.
Once half the members in your Crew have completed this training, you can register this as a Commotion!
*Please note that this training should be completed by individual Crew members and NOT as a group!

TATU Commotion

Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU) is a tobacco education program designed to help teens develop strong leadership skills while influencing younger children to live tobacco-free lifestyles. TATU is a youth empowerment program that allows RAZE members the opportunity to utilize their anti-tobacco knowledge and skills to make important changes in the community by being an advocate for tobacco control. TATU empowers participants in a fun, interactive way that they have the power to change the grim statistics.

For more information about TATU, please contact the American Lung Association:

Note: only teens who have been trained in TATU by a trained TATU facilitator can complete these presentations.

Tear Down Tobacco Ads

Kick, punch, or run through a mural made of hundreds of tobacco ads, tearing them to shreds and sending a clear message to Big Tobacco. Get tons of people to collect as many tobacco magazine ads as you can. Invite lots of people.

Gather the ads and build the mural with your Crew members. Craft a message, and have your crew leader let the audience know why it is so important to stop Big Tobacco from targeting teens.

The beauty does not last if you use tobacco products.
Hold up a rose and talk about how beautiful it is but it is also very fragile. The bloom is beautiful to look at. Pass rose to students and ask each one to pull a petal from the rose. When the rose is nothing but the stem, ask the student to bring it back to you. Hold up the stem and point out that all that is left is the stem and thorns. Tell the students its hard to imagine that this ugly stem and thorns once had a beautiful rose on it. Explain that when you use tobacco products they do the same thing to your body. They take away all of your vital healthy parts and leave you with a disease wrecked body from smoke abuse and many times you are unable to regain your health, just as the fact you can not put the petals back on the rose. Tobacco strips you of all that's positive and leaves you with thorns. Use opportunity to reiterate the many adverse effects that are associated with tobacco use.

The Struggle to Breathe

Participants will experience the struggle an emphysema victim has while breathing and understand the correlation between emphysema and smoking cigarettes.

You'll need a small, thin straw for each participant, a stopwatch or a watch with a second hand on it, a balloon and an empty water bottle.

Before beginning, please alert attendees who may have an allergy to latex, and any attendees who may have asthma or difficulty breathing.

Some questions and facts to use when presenting:

Tell me what you know about cigarettes. Get responses.

When you inhale a cigarette are you taking in oxygen? No. You are putting lots of chemicals in your body, but not oxygen.

Does your body need oxygen to live? Yes.

Does oxygen help build your brain? Yes.

The chemicals in a cigarette make your lungs work incorrectly and you cannot breathe properly.

Let's run in place for 1 minute. I will time you.

That wasn't so bad, was it?

This time I want you to do the same thing but I want you to hold your nose and breathe through this little straw while running in place for 1 minute.

Stop. Was this more difficult?

Raise your hand if you can describe how you felt running with your nose plugged and breathing through the little straw. Get responses.

People who smoke a lot get a disease called EMPHYSEMA. It prevents you from taking in a full lung of air and breathe it back out.

Get a volunteer to blow up the balloon. See how it expands?

Now let’s try to blow up the balloon inside this water bottle. Is this easier?

It is difficult. The balloon cannot expand like it needs to. Just like your lungs get when you have emphysema.

Do we want to smoke or be around secondhand smoke that makes it hard for us to breathe? Absolutely not!

Tobacco and Critical thinking

The students will use the website power my learning to access an activity that shows students how to be an active observer of tobacco ads and think critically as to why they are that way. Students dissect the ads by answering questions that ask why the ad is presented in such a way to try and persuade or even deceive you. After they have completed the questions it reveals to them how manipulative and untruthful tobacco adds can be.

Tobacco Ball

Use the Clever Catch Tobacco Beach ball to help players catch the truth about tobacco with the 75 questions about the dangers of tobacco printed on the surface of this ball.
To order a ball visit Health Edco here.

Or you can use a beach ball and sharpie and create your own Tobacco Ball.

Tobacco Does Not Make CENTS!

Help raise awareness about the costs of tobacco with a penny drive.
First, review the stats on the costs of tobacco use in West Virginia at www.tobaccofreekids.org/problem/toll-us/west_virginia
Choose a stat and set a goal to raise pennies to represent that stat. Pick a tobacco prevention charity to receive the money collected or plan your own tobacco prevention project that needs funding. For example, at the 2017 Tobacco Free Day, Crews raised 47,000 pennies to represent the the 47,000 young West Virginians alive today that will die prematurely of smoking if something doesn't change.
Set-up a booth and ask your friends and family members to donate their spare change for CHANGE. Don't forget to share facts about the costs of tobacco on West Virginians.
Once you've reach your goal, put the funds you've raised to work.
Don't forget to post photos of your progress to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Tag with #TobaccoDoesNotMakeCents

Tobacco Free Day

Celebrate Tobacco Free Day at the W. Va. state capitol with your fellow Crew members and RAZE Crews.

Tobacco Free in WV

At each Regional Raze Kick-Off Even in the Fall 2013, teens were asked to outline goals for their Raze crew for the coming school year. During a break-out session, teens had the opportunity to write their goals on a large map of the State of West Virginia. On February 25 at Tobacco Free Day, your Crew's successes - pictures of your commotions, articles in the paper, a list of all your new crew members - to display on another large map of West Virginia. Both maps of the State will be displayed at the Capitol on Tobacco Free Day so everyone can observe both the goals and successes of our state's Raze crews.

Tobacco Free Pledge

Create a Pledge to never compromise your heath and to say NO to tobacco products. Display this Pledge in a public venue and encourage as many people to sign it as possible.

Tobacco Myth Meme

Create a meme that addresses a tobacco fact or myth. Share it to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook and tag with #NoJokeDontSmoke.

Tobacco Puzzle

RAZE Crews create and distribute a word puzzle with tobacco facts and information.

Tombstones

RAZE members can pick an empty stretch of road and time out a pattern of tombstones so that a driver sees a tombstone along the road every time a person either in the U.S. or West Virginia dies from tobacco products. At the end of the stretch, kids can space out a couple of signs explaining what the driver saw.

To make your own tombstone:

Head to your local home center.

Purchase a can of FLAT BLACK spray paint or speckle paint.

Purchase several sheets of Styrofoam insulation. It comes in all sizes and thicknesses. The thicker, the better. You might also get some thinner stuff to add to the front of the main headstones (more later.)

Some sheets are small, but others may be too big to fit into the car. Now you'll use a pair of scissors or any other object to cut through the Styrofoam (make sure it is OK to use such object on school grounds).Even if you buy a gigantic 4 foot by 8 foot chunk of styrofoam (VERY INEXPENSIVE) you can rough cut it into small squares that will fit in your car or trunk!

Trace out a pattern (hint: leave protective coating on for drawing & cutting). Use that same pair of scissors to carefully and safely cut out several gravestone shapes.
Break off or carve out cracks and edges to make them "older" looking.

For some DELUXE tombstones, take that thin Styrofoam and cut out some shapes. You can cut out several squares and stick them to the bigger, thicker headstones to give a brick or black effect. The best way to get them to stick is to apply a little glue and then (and most importantly) take some small nails or even straightened-out paper clips (anything small and rigid) and stick it through the small piece tacking it onto the big piece. You're essentially "nailing" the brick to the headstone.

Use spray paint to add the final touches to your tombstone. BE SURE TO SPRAY IN A WELL VENTILATED AREA! There's no need to be precise, a random uneven spray pattern will look more realistic.

Tootsie Roll

This commotion is best done in conjunction with another presentation. Using a group of people, each person is given two Tootsie Rolls to put between their cheek and gum (similar to spit and chew) and is asked to hold it there throughout the presentation. Each member of the group is also provided with a cup so that they can spit the juice/saliva generated from the Tootsie Rolls. This demonstration shows how gross spit tobacco is.

This demonstration works best with a younger audience (children up to about 12-years-old). An older audience already knows how gross spit tobacco is and probably won't be influenced by the demonstration.

Touched by Tobacco

Create a display that shows how many of West Virginia's youth have been affected by tobacco. Trace hand prints and invites individuals to write about the ways they have been touched by tobacco. Display the hand prints in a public space.

Truth About Tobacco video

Patrick Reynolds, the grandson of tobacco company founder RJ Reynolds, speaks out about the importance of being tobacco free (his father died from smoking). This video helps motivate students to resist the tobacco advertising and peer pressure to start using tobacco.

Twisted Tobacco

This is RAZE take on the classic and interactive game Twister will educate teens about the harmful effects of smokeless tobacco. Crews received Twister-style boards covered with spit tobacco facts in the 2014-15 Commotion Kits.

Unglamour Shots

Find a prominent location to use as your studio (get the necessary permission of course). Use make-up and other materials to give your friends the full tobacco treatment. Have them swish around the yellow food coloring in their mouths for yellow teeth. Add some dark circles under the eyes. Grab some prunes and chew them up until they resemble chewing tobacco – make sure to get that spit drip! Go here for some inspiration: http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/ss/slideshow-ways-smoking-affects-looks. Make sure your photo subjects hold up the UNGLAMOUR SHOTS mugshot sign included in the Commotion Kit (2013-14). Upload your pics to the RAZE social media channels using the hashtag #UNGLAMOURSHOTS

Wearing RAZE Gear

Spread the message about RAZE by wearing your favorite RAZE t-shirt or other RAZE branded gear. You get credit for each day your Crew wears a RAZE-branded clothing item.

What Makes You Cool

Utilizing a blank canvas (i.e. white sheet, poster board, billboard, etc.) teens write what makes them cool (good student, good friend, plays sports, etc). The takeaway is that no one writes that tobacco makes them cool.

Continue passing the item around the circle and introducing it followed by, "A What?"

Once item #1 is halfway around, introduce item #2 and follow the same process

As items arrive at the last member, place back into bag

Draw the last item from the bag and insistently introduce it as "Freddy the frolicking, free-loading flea" (this could be any item such as a colored golf ball, handkerchief)

Make a big deal about the last person tossing "Freddy" into the bag and about "Freddy" jumping in.
Explain that sometimes things aren't always what they seem to be. This is how big tobacco companies advertise products.

Youth Engagement

RAZE members visit the classrooms of students and complete a Commotion to educate the students about RAZE and the effects of tobacco.